Cal State Fullerton Notebook / Elliott Teaford : Flener Leaves Bullpen and Becomes the Ace of the Pitching Staff

Ever since pitcher Mark Beck had shoulder surgery and was lost to the team for the season, Cal State Fullerton baseball Coach Larry Cochell has been hoping someone would emerge as the staff’s ace.

One has.

His name is Huck Flener.

That’s F-l-e-n-e-r. Not Finn. He’s not from Hannibal, Mo., but Fairfield, Calif.

And--this is the part Cochell likes best--Flener was leading the Titan staff with an 8-0 record entering Tuesday night’s game at UCLA. In nine starts, Flener, a sophomore left-hander, has pitched 66 1/3 innings and has given up 45 hits and 30 walks. He has 54 strikeouts and a 2.17 earned-run average.

“It’s pleasing,” Cochell said. “I can’t say it’s surprising. We knew he would be an outstanding pitcher.”

Beck had been expected to lead the Titans’ pitching staff and was named a preseason All-American by Baseball America magazine. As a sophomore, Beck established a school record for strikeouts in a season with 162. He had a 10-7 record in a team-high 19 starts as Fullerton advanced to the College World Series semifinals.

But Beck had to withdraw from the the U.S. Olympic Trials last summer because of shoulder problems. Then, while rehabilitating the shoulder in January, he reinjuried it.

“I knew we had six or seven guys capable of doing well when we lost Beck,” Cochell said. “I felt like the others--Danny DeVille, Paul Johnson, Huck Flener--could give us an outstanding season.”

Working primarily out of the bullpen last season, Flener was 4-1 and showed promise as a pitcher for the future. But his most noteworthy achievement may have been the time he pinch-hit for Keith Kaub, the team’s heavy-hitting first baseman.

Flener was a .368 hitter as a senior at Armijo High in Fairfield, where he set school records for ERA with a 0.36 mark and strikeouts with 133.

This season, Flener has become the bona fide ace of the staff. His performance against Florida State March 25 stands out.

Flener gave up five hits and one run in 5 1/3 innings, but kept the Titans in the game, which they eventually won, 9-4.

“I think it was his maturity,” Cochell said. “You’re not always going to have your best stuff. You have to do something different.”

Flener has been sticking with the simple things to get batters out, according to Cochell.

“He’s throwing strikes and putting the ball where he wants it,” Cochell said. “His changeup and curveball with his fastball have been very effective.”

Add baseball: Fullerton, which dropped out of the Collegiate Baseball-ESPN poll last week, fell out of the Baseball America poll this week. Baseball America had the Titans 19th-ranked last week.

Fullerton returns to Big West action Friday with a three-game series at UC Santa Barbara.

The women’s gymnastics team, thanks to its second-place finish at the West Regional Saturday, will advance to the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. championship meet April 14-15 at Athens, Ga., as the No. 6-seeded team.

It’s the first time since 1986 that the Titans have qualified for the NCAA meet after advancing to the NCAA championship meet 11 consecutive times.

Heather Thomas, who won the uneven bars and was fifth in the all-around Saturday; Stacey Harris (third in the uneven bars) and Gina Satterly (tied for second in the balance beam) had the best finishes for the Titans.

Thomas, Harris, Satterly and Lisa Dolan, an All-American last season, will likely compete in the all-around competition in Athens.

Add gymnastics: Eli Rodriguez and Terry Carmichael will represent the Titan men’s team at the NCAA meet in Lincoln, Neb., April 13-15.

Rodriguez will compete in the all-around competition and Carmichael will be entered in the rings.

At the Pacific 10 meet March 24-25, Rodriguez finished in 11th place in the all-around. He had 100.35 points. Conrad Voorsanger of Stanford won with 111.70.

Rodriguez also finished third in the vault, fifth in the pommel horse and seventh in the rings.

Carmichael was not among the top 10 finishers in the rings at the Pacific 10 meet.

Fullerton did not qualify in the team competition.

The football team opened spring practice this week with a number of minor and not-so-minor injuries. Only one is thought to be serious enough to worry Coach Gene Murphy.

And it’s his own ankle that concerns him.

Murphy strained ligaments in his right ankle while jogging at Craig Park in Fullerton last Wednesday and is wearing a splint that enables him to limp around the Titan practice field.