Season’s Memories Bittersweet : Titans: Despite poor showing in College World Series, Coach Larry Cochell says Fullerton had a banner year.

Larry Cochell, Cal State Fullerton’s baseball coach, tempers the frustration of the Titans’ College World Series performance by looking at the bigger picture.

A 14-4 loss to Oklahoma State Saturday and an 8-7, 12-inning loss to The Citadel Monday in Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium won’t exactly be fond memories for Cochell.

The Titans, who looked so good while winning the NCAA Central Regional at Austin, Tex., were blown out in their first game and then blew the second game, squandering a 4-1, sixth-inning lead, stranding 13 baserunners, and losing despite The Citadel’s seven errors.

But before Cochell gets too upset about Fullerton’s failure to play to its potential, he flashes back to January, when Big West Conference coaches picked his team to finish fifth.

“I’m disappointed that we didn’t play as well in Omaha as we did during the second half of the season,” said Cochell, whose Titans won 18 of their last 23 games entering the series. “But you can’t just look at one or two games. To me, this was a banner season.”

But Cochell saw things in Omaha that he hasn’t seen in 24 years as a college coach, such as quirky base-running blunder in the fifth inning Monday, when Mate Borgogno passed Phil Nevin near second base and was called out, taking the Titans out of a potentially big inning.

He saw something he hadn’t seen in the past two seasons when Borgogno, an aggressive batter who struck out just 21 times in 254 plate appearances this year, looked at three strikes in the bottom of the 12th to end Monday’s game with the tying run on third.

“That was a weird game, wasn’t it?” Cochell said.

Even stranger was the play on which Rich Gonzales sprained his neck Saturday, slamming head-first into the outfield wall on an attempted catch. Replays showed that Gonzales made an outstanding, over-the-shoulder catch, after which he stumbled on the warning-track gravel and smashed into the wall.

But when he rolled over and clutched his forehead in pain, the ball popped out of his glove, and umpire Dick Runchey ruled no-catch. Oklahoma State’s Michael Daniel circled the bases for a three-run, inside-the-park home run, and the rout was on.

Gonzales watched Monday’s game from the stands.

“We were never the same team after Rich went out,” Cochell said. “We didn’t seem as relaxed and confident as we had been.”

Fullerton won’t be the same team next year, either, but Cochell says the Titans should be better. They lose senior outfielders Gonzales and Paul Bunch, and senior pitcher Sam Colarusso.

Junior shortstop Kevin Farlow and junior pitcher Huck Flener, who were drafted Monday, are likely to sign professional contracts, Cochell said.

Borgogno hadn’t heard from a pro team by Tuesday but is expected to be drafted. He says there is a chance he will return. Cochell said junior catcher Matt Hattabaugh will probably sign with a pro team.

But third baseman Nevin, first baseman Steve Sisco, outfielder Domingo Mota and ace right-hander James Popoff all are expected to return. Cochell says he had an excellent recruiting year, highlighted by the signing of Glendale College’s Arthur Shute, a left-handed, power-hitting first baseman, and Mission College (San Jose) outfielder Craig Constantino, also a power hitter.

“I don’t think people are going to be picking us fifth next year,” Cochell said.