CAL STATE FULLERTON NOTEBOOK : Titans on Verge of Softball Playoffs

The combination of outstanding pitching, solid defense and timely hitting has carried the Cal State Fullerton softball team to the verge of the NCAA playoffs.

Soon, Coach Judi Garman will know if those ingredients are enough to put the Titans into the College World Series for the first time since 1987.

Fullerton, 50-12-1 and ranked fourth in the nation, closes the regular season with four games at Utah State this weekend, and the NCAA pairings will be announced Sunday.

Based on their ranking and history of strong fan support, Garman believes the Titans will be awarded with a two-team regional at their home field May 17-18. Twenty teams make the playoffs, with eight playing in two-team regionals and 12 playing in three-team regionals.

Garman said Fullerton most likely will play seventh-ranked Nevada Las Vegas, eighth-ranked Arizona State or possibly 19th-ranked Cal State Long Beach in a best-of-three series, with the winner advancing to the College World Series in Oklahoma City May 22-26.

Fullerton has relied on two pitchers, Tiffany Boyd and Ann Van Dortrecht, during the regular season, but that rotation could be pared to one when the playoffs begin.

When you have a competitor like Boyd, who threw a perfect game April 27 against California, and a tender shoulder like Van Dortrecht’s, it’s a logical move.

Boyd, the former Woodbridge High School standout and UCLA transfer, is 31-5 with an 0.63 earned-run average and 222 strikeouts. Van Dortrecht, last year’s ace who is suffering from tendinitis and will undergo surgery after the season, is 17-3 with a 1.00 ERA and 155 strikeouts.

But what separates Boyd from many other pitchers is her fiery attitude, an intangible that helps in tournament situations.

“She has an intensity that the great athletes have,” Garman said. “She’s a strong competitor, and if something isn’t going her way, she starts fighting and clawing.”

Titan pitchers have been backed by the nation’s top-ranked defense, which sports a .971 fielding percentage. Fullerton’s offensive numbers aren’t as impressive--the Titans have a .257 team batting average and score an average of 3.2 runs--but they seem to come up with the big hits at the right time.

Fullerton’s top two hitters are Mich DeBree, who is batting .313 with eight doubles, 30 runs and 19 runs batted in, and Jill Matyuch, who is batting .304 with 21 RBIs. Matyuch hit .157 last year.

“What’s strange is you look down our lineup and we don’t have a lot of players with great batting averages,” Garman said. “But different players are doing it every game. Maybe that’s why we’re more successful this year.”

The Titan baseball team is feeling better about its NCAA tournament chances after sweeping a three-game series from UC Santa Barbara over the weekend and taking over sole possession of second place in the Big West Conference.

Fullerton (31-21, 13-5 in conference) closes the regular season this weekend with three home games against San Jose State and has an outside chance of winning the conference and an automatic tournament berth if Fresno State (34-17, 14-4) falters at home against UCSB this weekend.

Even if Fresno State holds on to win the title, Fullerton, if it defeats U.S. International Wednesday and sweeps San Jose State, should be a strong candidate for an at-large berth, associate head Coach George Horton said.

“Last year, three teams from our conference made it, and Fresno State’s record (38-24 last year) and Santa Barbara’s record (40-22) then were not much better than ours this year,” Horton said. “And no one has played a tougher schedule than us. Another thing working in our favor is we’ve really come on after a 3-9 start.”

Crazy eights: The Titan baseball team scored eight runs in the eighth inning to erase a 5-4 deficit and defeat Santa Barbara, 14-7, Saturday, and then scored eight in the 13th inning Sunday to defeat the Gauchos, 14-6.

That gave Fullerton six eight-run innings this season. The Titans accomplished the feat twice in a 20-5 victory over Fresno State April 14, and once in victories over UC Irvine March 29 and Cal State Long Beach April 28.

Wrong number: A school-issued release announcing the inauguration of the Titan Sportswire, an automated audio service featuring Fullerton athletic department news, did not list the correct phone number.

Titan fans can get up-to-the minute sports information with a touch-tone telephone by dialing 1-900-VIP-TITAN; it was incorrectly reported last week. No, this is not a new, eight-digit phone number. Only the first four letters in TITAN (8482) need to dialed to complete the call.

Titan Notes

Fullerton has agreed to play UCLA in a nonconference basketball game Dec. 23 at Pauley Pavilion. Interim Athletic Director Steve DiTolla said he will sign the one-game contract and return it to UCLA this week. . . . Titan offensive tackle Robert Reid, who was unable to participate in spring practice contact drills because of a broken wrist, broke his ankle in a pick-up basketball game Sunday night. . . Cerritos High School outfielder Ricky Cradle, the younger brother of Cal State Long Beach outfielder Cobi Cradle, has signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Fullerton. The Titans have also received letters of intent from shortstop Jeff Ferguson of La Serna High in Whittier, outfielder Jeremy Carr of Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo and catcher Jim Hemphill of De Anza College in Cupertino.

Roseann Alva and Kelli Moore, who had a 19-1 record in doubles this season, became the first Fullerton women’s tennis players to earn all-Big West Conference, first-team honors last week. Moore, who went 11-5 at No. 1 singles, also was a second-team selection in singles. . . . Mich DeBree, who had four hits and three RBIs in two victories over Santa Barbara last week, was named Big West Conference co-field player of the week Monday. . . . Women’s basketball player Genia Miller was one of only two seniors in the nation to shoot 60% or better from the field and average 20 points and 10 rebounds a game. The other was Maine’s Rachel Bouchard. . . . Rob Vasquez has the Big West’s second-best mark in the javelin (222 feet 6 inches) going into this weekend’s conference track and field championships at UC Irvine and will challenge Fresno State’s Todd Reich (with a best of 223-10) in the event. Jesse Henderson has the conference’s third-best mark (48-2 3/4) in the triple jump.