Titans Hope the Odds Aren’t Catching Up With Them : NCAA softball: They play host to Long Beach, which is 0-5 against Fullerton this season, in opener of best-of-three regional series tonight.

The odds would appear to be in Cal State Fullerton’s favor tonight when the host Titans begin a best-of-three NCAA Regional softball series against Cal State Long Beach.

The Titans are 5-0 against the 49ers this season, Fullerton has hit all three Long Beach pitchers well, and Fullerton sophomore Tiffany Boyd, who will handle pitching duties this weekend, has allowed three runs and 13 hits in four games against the 49ers.

But the only odds that concern Titan Coach Judi Garman are the ones that might be catching up to Fullerton.

“To beat a good team, you have to be good and get the breaks,” said Garman, whose Titans haven’t been to a College World Series since 1987. “When you control a team like we have with Long Beach, you start thinking the odds might turn and give them the breaks.”

Garman is a superstitious sort. Even though it was prudent to make College World Series travel arrangements this week--the Titans would have to leave Monday if they defeat the 49ers and advance--it pained Garman on Tuesday to book flights to Oklahoma City.

“I don’t want to jinx ourselves,” she said.

But her fears going into tonight’s 7:30 game at the Titan Softball Complex are based on experience as much as superstition. Fullerton beat UCLA nine consecutive times during a two-year span going into the 1987 regionals, but the Bruins upset the Titans, then the defending national champions.

“I remember having the feeling then that one of these days, something was going to break,” Garman said.

If the third-ranked Titans (52-14-1) had thoroughly dominated the 18th-ranked 49ers (36-26) this season, perhaps Garman wouldn’t worry so much.

But that hasn’t been the case. The scores have been 3-0, 1-0, 3-1, 2-1 and 7-4. Fullerton needed a late-inning grand slam by Kelly Hunt to defeat Long Beach in the last game.

The 49ers, who beat the Titans in last season’s regionals, dipped to 17-19 in the Big West Conference, finishing in a fifth-place tie with Hawaii. But they have played championship-caliber softball at times, defeating conference-champion Fresno State three out of four games. Fullerton went 0-4 against the Bulldogs.

Easing Garman’s fears is the fact that the Titans have had success against all three 49er pitchers, Mary Letourneau, Ruby Flores and Stacy Van Essen. On the other hand, Boyd (32-6) has a 0.00 earned-run average against Long Beach.

“The good thing is they don’t have a pitcher who has dominated us this year,” Garman said. “When you’re facing someone like California with Michele Granger, you pray for a lot of luck.”

Neither team has a powerful offense. Long Beach has only three players batting .300 or better, Linda Lunceford (.322), Kim Kostyk (.309) and Sandra Ross (.306), while Mich DeBree (.313) is the only Fullerton player above the .300 mark.

But the Titans have the third-best fielding percentage in the nation (.971), and their offense has been opportunistic, if not imposing. Jill Matyuch, Joy Tiner and Hunt each lead the team with eight game-winning hits.

“We don’t have the big All-American-type hitters, but collectively, they keep doing the job,” Garman said. “Someone comes up with the big hits, opponents have been hitting the ball on the ground and we’ve been making the plays.”