College Baseball / Maryann Hudson : Titans’ Brent Mayne Gets Back in Swing

It’s no coincidence that sophomore catcher Brent Mayne and Cal State Fullerton both started out slowly this season, with Mayne hitting .192 as the Titans struggled to a 3-4 record.

But in Fullerton’s eighth game of the season, a 6-5 win at Stanford, Mayne was 2 for 4, and went on to hit .484 in his next 31 games, including a current 20-game hitting streak in which he is batting .523.

A contact hitter, Mayne has struck out only 8 times and walked 8 times in 150 at-bats. Meanwhile, Fullerton won 25 of its next 31 games to improve to 28-10 (7-2 in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn.).

A top major college recruit out of Costa Mesa High School in 1987, Mayne chose instead to play for his father, Mike Mayne, the baseball coach at Orange Coast College.

“I didn’t play my senior year in high school, because I had a sore arm and I didn’t want to risk an injury,” Mayne said.

“I just didn’t know if I could make the jump to a four-year university, and I thought I could learn more from my father.

“Ever since I can remember I had always hung around dad at the ballpark while he was working. Plus, I wanted to be sure I played, and just didn’t sit on the bench, which sometimes happens at a four-year school.”

Mayne caught every inning for Orange Coast last season, had a .326 average and set a school record for the most at-bats with 231.

And when the season was over, he decided it was time to move on. But he still didn’t venture too far from home, choosing to attend a college just a freeway drive away, a factor that helped former Fullerton Coach Augie Garrido recruit him.

“I felt relaxed, more adjusted, and knew it was time to move out on my own,” Mayne said.

“At Orange Coast, I had really wanted to impress my dad, so I created a little pressure on myself playing for him. But he never put pressure on me, and he didn’t favor me, so it didn’t cause any problems with the team. He had to play me, we didn’t have that many players.

“Still, I like it when Dad comes to my games. I play better when I know he’s there.”

Before last season, Mayne had always split playing time between catching and second base, but he has chosen to focus on catching, thinking a lack of good catchers may enhance his chances of making it to the big leagues.

Yet, at 6-1 and 185 pounds, Mayne appears a little too slender to fit the bulky catcher image--a stigma Garrido doesn’t agree with.

“In the long run, Brent is better off, because he won’t become overweight early,” Garrido said.

“A catcher needs strength, and Brent’s will come with hard work and weight training. Already he is the most mature catcher I have ever seen at his age (19 years), and, believe me, we had some good ones at Fullerton.”

In the Louisiana Challenge tournament played in New Orleans March 25-27, Mayne was 7 for 16 with 3 RBIs. The round-robin tournament pitted three California teams--Fullerton, UCLA and USC--against three Louisiana teams--LSU, Tulane and New Orleans.

California won the tournament 5 games to 4, but Fullerton was the only team in the tournament to win the three games it played.

Mayne was selected to the all-tournament team. It’s no coincidence.

Garrido update: “We’ve made it to the other side of winter,” Garrido said last week from his office at the University of Illinois’ main campus in Champaign.

“It’s 70 degrees plus today, and sunshine. But, believe me, I have found a whole new definition for the word, ‘cold.’ ”

The cold didn’t stop the new coach from working out his team. When the grueling months of December, January and February hit, Garrido took the players indoors for practice sessions on a covered football field.

“It’s a great facility, complete with batting cages and all,” Garrido said. “We could only play modified games this year, but we are building it so next year we will be able to play complete games. Still, we were able to come out of that facility and win our opener.”

Although Garrido inherited a team that had lost five starters, Illinois (16-6, 4-4 in the Big Ten) is off to a good start.

“You could call this a rebuilding year, which is a way for a coach to say, ‘I think we are going to be beat,’ ” Garrido said.

“But I took the job for the opportunity to build a total player development program at what I think is one of the finest universities in the country. I am excited about the future here.”

Loyola’s left-handed ace, sophomore Steve Surico, is 9-0 this season, but his earned-run average of 4.65 ranks at the bottom of the staff.

“I struggle early,” Surico said. “It takes me a couple of innings to settle in, and a few times I gave up about four runs in the first inning.”

But Surico is showing improvement. In his last three outings against USC, California and UC San Diego, he has given up just five earned runs, picking up three wins and two complete games.

“I’m still not where I want to be,” Surico said. “It was a big transition from high school (Tustin) to college--the competition is more intense. But in my outing against USC I felt good. I just hope it can continue.”

College Baseball Notes

Loyola Marymount is 8-0 in the West Coast Athletic Conference (35-9 overall). . . . Arizona State’s sweep of over Stanford on March 25-27 at home was helped by Kevin Higgins (Harbor College), who hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 7-7 tie in the last game of the series. ASU (38-8, 11-7) has won 18 straight, including a three-game sweep over USC last weekend. . . . Fresno State (37-6, 9-0, PCAA) has won 20 straight games with help from senior first baseman Lance Shebelut (.410, 60 RBIs), who has hit 21 home runs this season. Fresno’s starting rotation, John Salles, Erik Schullstrom and Rich Crane have a combined record of 30-2, with a 1.97 earned run average and 314 strikeouts. . . . Nevada Las Vegas (29-11, 8-1, PCAA) has won eight of its last nine games. . . .

USC’s Rodney Peete hit 5 home runs, 3 doubles and 13 RBIs in his first 8 games since returning to the lineup March 12. . . . Arizona State’s Brian Dodd pitched a no-hitter March 19 to beat Tennessee, 9-0. Dodd (6-1, 2.10 ERA) faced 30 batters and gave up 4 walks, and is the first Sun Devil to throw a nine-inning no-hitter since 1973, when Eddie Bane pitched a perfect game against Cal State Northridge. Bane went on to play for the Minnesota Twins from 1973-1976.