June 5, 2008
Complete Super Regional Release in PDF Format
FULLERTON SUPER REGIONAL SCHEDULE:
Friday, June 6, 2008 (Fullerton home) vs. Stanford, 7:30 p.m. PT (ESPN2)
Saturday, June 7, 2008 (Stanford home) vs. Stanford, 4:30 p.m. PT (ESPN)
Sunday, June 8, 2008 (Fullerton home) vs. Stanford, 4:00 p.m. PT (ESPN2)
No pitching rotations have been officially set.
ON THE TUBE: ESPN2 (Friday and Sunday) and ESPN (Saturday) will be televising every game of the Fullerton Super Regional and they will be called by Jim Durham and former Titan superstar Phil Nevin. Check your local listings for ESPN2's and ESPN's channel on your satellite or cable network.
TRACKING THE GAME: Follow all 8 Super Regionals via your web browser with CBS College Sports' GameTracker. Go to the bottom of fullertontitans.com or go to the baseball schedule page to link to GameTracker, or go to cstv.com to find the desired game.
AUDIO BROADCASTS: Audio broadcasts of all Titan postseason games will be brought to you live on fullertontitans.com. Go to the home page and click the banner with the microphone on the right hand side...pick your game and that's it. You are there!
POSTSEASON TIDBITS:
&\#149; This is Fullerton's 30th NCAA postseason ppearance in its 34th year of Div. I&\#8232;baseball. The exceptions were 1985, 1986, 1989 and 1991. The current string&\#8232;of 17 CONSECUTIVE appearances is third longest in the nation behind Miami&\#8232;(36) and Florida State (31). Clemson's string was snapped this year at 21.
&\#149; Fullerton has won six regionals in a row and 17 total - including a&\#8232;national-best 11 on the road (two each in Fresno and Baton Rouge and one&\#8232;each at USC, Austin, Starkville, Stillwater, South Bend, Tempe and San&\#8232;Diego). The Titans NEVER hosted a regional before 2000 but have now hosted seven at home - they lost the first and have won the last six - in the&\#8232;past nine years (exceptions at Stanford in 1997 & 2002 and at San Diego in 2007).
&\#149; Following last week's triumph, Fullerton's all-time Regional record is 82-34 (.707) including 23-6 at&\#8232;Goodwin Field.
&\#149; The last time the Titans were absent from NCAA Regional play was in 1991 under Coach Augie Garrido.
&\#149; No 0-2 and BBQ... The Titans have never gone winless in Regional or Super Regional play. They have, however, gone winless in the College World Series four times (1975, 1982, 1990 and 2007).
TITAN REGIONAL LORE: Some observers view as Fullerton's most impressive regional tournament statistic its 13-game winning streak that stretched over four hostile sites with four distinct rosters in 1988 (at Starkville), 1990 (at Austin), 1992 (at Baton Rouge) and an opening win in 1993 (at Austin). Some say it was the 4-0 sweep at LSU in 1992 by a combined score of 35-3 over Tulane, LSU and Ohio State twice. Or the home comeback in 2004 from a walk-off extra-inning loss to Pepperdine to beat Arizona State and Pepperdine twice by a combined score of 36-4. The oldtimers always point to the first regional in 1975 when the Titans ended USC's run of five consecutive NATIONAL championships by winning the regional at Dedeaux Field in Fullerton's first season of Div. I play.
SUPER REGIONAL ERA
&\#149; Since the Super Regional format was begun in 1999, Miami is the only school&\#8232;to win more regional tournaments (9) than Fullerton (8) ... Florida&\#8232;State and Rice, also have 8. Fullerton is&\#8232;trying to improve its national lead in Super Regional victories. The Titans&\#8232;are 6-1 to lead Texas (5-0), Stanford (5-1), Rice (5-2) and Miami (5-3) in&\#8232;Super Regional wins and berths into the College World Series.
&\#149; Cal State Fullerton is in the Super Regionals for the eighth time in the format's 10-year history -- the seventh time as a host, more than any other school (three schools have hosted five: Georgia Tech, 2-3; Rice, 5-0; and Stanford, 5-0). The Titans have won six of the previous seven, also more than any other school in the country (Miami, Texas, Stanford and Rice have each won five). All but the 1999 victory at Ohio State have been at Goodwin Field. The lone defeat came at home by a 2-1 margin to Arizona State in&\#8232;2005. Fullerton is 13-4 in Super Regional games (11-3 at Goodwin Field),&\#8232;going 2-0 in 2001 vs. Mississippi State, in 2004 vs. Tulane, in 2006 vs. Missouri and in 2007 vs. UCLA. Fullerton went 2-1 in 1999 at Ohio State and in 2003 at home vs. Arizona State.&\#8232;&\#8232;
&\#149; Cal State Fullerton is attempting to reach the College World Series in Omaha for the 16th time and the third year in a row, which would be a program first. The Titans are seeking their seventh trip in 10 years.
&\#149; In nine years of Super Regional play, the host team has advanced to Omaha 76&\#8232;percent of the time (55 series wins vs. 17 series losses).
VERSUS STANFORD: Fullerton never has faced Stanford in the Super Regional but the schools are old acquaintances in the regular season as well as in Regional and College World Series play. The Titans twice have failed to win Regionals at Stanford (in&\#8232;1997 and 2002, going 0-1 vs. the Cardinal each time). In Omaha, the Titans are 3-7 vs. the Cardinal for a post-season total of 3-9. In regular season play during the Super Regional Era, Stanford is 14-1 vs. Fullerton in Palo Alto but only 5-10 in Fullerton for a total of 19-11. The Titans are 38-51 all-time against the Cardinal since their first Div. I meeting in 1979.
REGIONAL RECAP: Fullerton has won the last six Regionals (2003-08) in which it has competed and six in a row (2001, '03-06 and '08) at Goodwin Field after losing the inaugural one in 2000 to USC. At Goodwin Field, the Titans are now 23-6 in Regional games. In combined Regional and Super Regional play at Goodwin Field the Titans are 34-9.
WINNER TAKE ALL: The Titans are 12-3 all-time in "winner-take-all" postseason series games dating back to 1975, the school's first year at Div. I. The Are 8-1 in do-or-die Regional championship games, 2-1 in Super Regional and 2-1 at the College World Series.
3-GAME SERIES: The Titans have not lost a series at home this year, going 3-0 vs. Southern Mississippi, UNLV and San Diego State and 2-1 vs. UC Riverside, Cal State Northridge, UC Davis and Cal Poly.
WHO'S HOT: Christian Colon was the Titans' leading hitter in the Regional at .450 with a team-high 9 hits and 8 RBI. Joel Weeks hit .438 (7-for-16) and Gary Brown hit .353 (6-for-17).
WHO'S NOT: Jared Clark hit only .133 (2-for-15) after being the team's top hitter in the final week of the regular season (7-for-16, .438, with 2 HRs and 2 doubles). Josh Fellhauer is in the most prolonged slump (8-for-45, .178, over the last 10 games) after a 4-for-24 (.167) Regional.
UNLIKELY HEROES: Brian Wilson was the most unlikely hero of the Fullerton Regional but he joins a long list of less heralded Titans who have excelled in the post-season spotlight. Part-time starter Tony Hudson became a reliever in the 1979 World Series and won MVP honors. Reliever Paul Johnson won back-to-back games in the Mississippi State Regional in 1988. Light-hitting shortstop Jack Jones was the MVP of the 1995 LSU Regional. And the 1994 Regional championship team had several heroes in Stillwater including pitcher Dan Ricabal, who pitched twice on Sunday; Brian King, whose 2-out, ninth-inning pinch-hit single tied the title game; Steve Rath and Chris Remala, who manned the left side of the infield in the top of the tenth inning after playing sparingly all season; and outfielder Robert Matos, who was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in the game-winning run in the bottom of the tenth.
QUICK HITS:
&\#149; The Titans have a 27-8 mark in games at Goodwin Field this season and have averaged 2,055 fans over 35 home dates. The highest regular season attendance of the year was 2,346 on Apr. 27 against UC Davis, but was surpassed in the Regional's championship game on June 2, when 3,012 showed up for the Titans 5-4 win over UCLA.
&\#149; Fullerton was 14-12 on the road this year, and drew an average of 1657 fans per game over 26 contests. The highest road attendance came in Tucson, Arizona, on March 14, when 4,250 showed up for the game featuring the Titans and Arizona Wildcats.
&\#149; The Titans hit four home runs on May 20 against the UCLA Bruins, the only time this year the club blasted four in a game. Dustin Garneau, Christian Colon, Jared Clark and Joel Weeks each lost a ball in the Titans' 12-8 win.
&\#149; Unexpected Regional hero Brian Wilson holds the Titans' longest hitting streak with his seven-gamer. Wilson was the only Titan to hit in all five Fullerton Regional games and has gone 8-for-28 (.286), with a home run and three RBI over the seven-game span. Christian Colon has the next longest streak - five games.
&\#149; Freshmen Gary Brown and Christian Colon have each broken school marks for a Cal State Fullerton freshman player. Brown broke Dante Powell's record for stolen bases by a rookie (19 in 1992) at Long Beach State and currently leads the team with 24 bags. Colon broke the record held by Jack Jones (1994) for the most sacrifice bunts by a freshman, and comes into the weekend with 21 sac-bunts.
&\#149; The Titans are near perfect when leading late in games in 2008. When the Titans hold the lead after 6 innings, they are 35-0; when leading after 7 they are 37-1 (Thanks to a late-inning rally by Long Beach on May 26); and 30-0 when leading after eight innings.
&\#149; In a pinch ... Khris Davis is 7-for-13 in pinch hit situations (.538)...Brian Wilson is 5-for-8 (.625), Jon Wilhite and Matthew Fahey ("Shake and Bake") both have three pinch-hits apiece
&\#149; Tough with two out (at the plate) ... Junior Erik Komatsu has hit .415 (34-for-82) when hitting with two out (team best)...also has a team-high 23 two-out RBI.
&\#149; Tough with two out (on the mound) ... Freshman Jason Dovel has held the opponent to just six hits in 51 at bats (.118) with two down in an inning. Brian Wilson is doing well in the same situation...hitters are hitting just .188 against Wilson (9-for-48) with two down.
&\#149; Freshman Christian Colon hit .450 (9-for-20) with a double, a home run and nine RBI to lead all players in the Fullerton Regional. Colon nearly matched Brian Wilson in tournament Most Outstanding Player voting
&\#149; The Titans have stolen at least one base in 18 of the last 19 games. Over the last 19, the Titans have stolen 36 bases and have been caught just 10 times.
&\#149; Closer Adam Jorgenson has averaged a team-leading 10.54 strikeouts per nine innings. The senior has posted 57 strikeouts 48.2 innings. He's walked just 14.
&\#149; RBI leader Jared Clark surpassed Erik Komatsu in multi-RBI games. He now has 14 games with two-or-more RBI including three games in which he drove home four.
&\#149; Gary Brown stole a team- and personal- best three bases in a game versus Virginia on June 1. Brown is the Titans stolen base leader.