NOTES : Asthma, Allergies Haven’t Slowed Down Titans’ Nevin

Cal State Fullerton third baseman Phil Nevin, whom the Houston Astros made the No. 1 pick overall in Monday’s draft, has suffered from asthma and allergies his entire life, but the condition wasn’t detected until he was 2 years old.

Terry Nevin, Phil’s mother, said she thought Phil had pneumonia and used to sleep on the floor of Phil’s room at night to listen to him breathe as a baby.

One day when Phil was 2, he was sitting on the couch and had trouble breathing. When he started turning blue, Terry rushed him to the hospital.

“They ran some tests and told me, ‘Your kid has asthma, didn’t you know?’ ” Terry Nevin said. “I lost my mother of the year recommendation right there. But as Phil got older, he decided he was going to live a normal life, and the asthma has been easy to control.”

Nevin is allergic to grass, but he won’t have to deal with that inside the Houston Astrodome.

“I don’t think he’s allergic to artificial turf,” Terry Nevin said.

Leaving the nest: Nevin has reportedly agreed to a $675,000 signing bonus with the Astros, and Terry Nevin, a teacher, said her students have been asking what she was going to do when her son becomes rich.

“I told them nothing,” she said. “Really, it’s a blessing to know that your children will be taken care of. But that’s his money. We have no claim to it.”

Nevin said he had only one purchase in mind--a new Ford Explorer “with all the fixin’s.”

Power outage: D.C. Olsen, a freshman from Fullerton High School, was thrust into the Titans’ starting lineup when first baseman Jim Betzsold broke his collarbone after running into LSU’s catcher in the South I Region tournament.

Olsen, who homered in an earlier regional game against Tulane, responded with a single against LSU and a double and single in the region title game against Ohio State. But he has been silent in the College World Series, going zero for six in two games.

Olsen, who has had trouble extending his huge forearms and getting good swings, has been fooled on several pitches and has hit only one ball hard, a fly-ball out against Florida State Friday.

“I’m just missing the ball,” Olsen said. “I need to shorten up my swing a bit and try to get the bat on the ball instead of trying to hit it out of the park.”

Add Olsen: With a 1-1 tie and runners on first and second in the fourth inning Sunday against Miami, Olsen was asked to bunt with no outs.

But he tapped the ball too hard to Hurricane pitcher Jeff Alkire, whose throw to third easily forced Jason Moler.

“I don’t think I bunted once in my whole high school career,” Olsen said. “I’ve done it a few times this year, but I haven’t been too successful with it. It’s one thing I have to work on.”