No. 1 Baseball Team Will Still Try Harder

Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Georgia Tech propelled Cal State Fullerton to the top spot in two of the nation’s three major college baseball polls, but there were no balloons or party streamers in the Titan baseball office Tuesday.

Fullerton coaches, mindful of the Titans’ swoon after ascending to No. 2 midway through the 1993 season, were in no mood to celebrate.

They saw what happened after last season’s 14-game winning streak and 22-7 start--a 13-12 finish, including three losses to Long Beach State, and elimination in the NCAA Central II Regional.

They know better.

“We didn’t continue to improve last year,” said George Horton, associate head coach. “We got happy with what we had done, and our work habits were not as good. The Long Beach series sent a shock wave through us, and we never recovered.”

Horton and head Coach Augie Garrido already have taken measures to avoid another letdown this season, challenging players more in practice and devising ways to make practices more competitive.

“It’s our responsibility not to let complacency set in,” Horton said. “We want the players’ mind set to be the same in practice as it is games.”

The coaches are encouraged by the fact that this is a veteran team--six position starters and six pitchers are back from the 1993 team, and several say they have learned from last year’s mistakes.

And Horton and Garrido still don’t think the Titans have played their best baseball, even though they’re 15-2, ranked No. 1 by Collegiate Baseball Magazine and USA Today and No. 2 by Baseball America, behind Florida State.

“We still feel we have a long way to go,” Horton said.

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Upon further review: A recount of ticket stubs from Sunday’s Anaheim Hilton & Towers finale between Fullerton and previously top-ranked Georgia Tech revealed the crowd to be 1,920, not 1,861, as was reported.

Either way it was a Titan Sports Complex sellout, one that was achieved without the benefit of Kevin Costner on the marquee.

A crowd of more than 2,000 saw the movie star help christen the stadium in 1992, the only other sellout in three years, but fans came Sunday for the glitter of a big game, not a big name.

Fullerton also attracted 1,623 for Saturday’s game against Oklahoma, and the weekend crowds were significantly larger than any the Titan basketball team has drawn. Its season high is 1,236 for a game against Nevada Las Vegas.

Has Fullerton finally found a revenue sport?

“The crowds speak well for the interest in college baseball,” Garrido said. “This venue can handle these types of crowds, and with the right teamwork on the part of the university and athletic department, this could be happening on a regular basis.”

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To catch a thief: Titan first baseman Adam Millan, one of the team’s slower players, caught everyone by surprise when he got a huge jump off Georgia Tech pitcher Al Gogolin and stole third in the sixth inning Sunday.

“He shocked the . . . out of me,” third base Coach Rick Vanderhook said. “My eyes went, ‘Whoa!’ ”

Millan’s heads-up play created a run. He was able to score on a wild pitch that made it 2-0.

“I felt like the basketball coach watching his guy shoot a 40-footer,” Horton said. “You’re going, ‘No, no . . . nice shot!’ ”

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Iron man: Titan basketball Coach Brad Holland played 108 holes of golf Monday at the Yorba Linda Country Club as part of a booster-club event.

And he was still standing Tuesday.

“My arms are a little stiff and my hands are sore, but I don’t have any blisters,” said Holland, who teed off at 7:30 a.m. and didn’t stop until 6 p.m. “My clubs were more tired than I was.”

Holland, an avid golfer with a 6-8 handicap, shot 74-76-83-80-81-77. He had 11 birdies, two triple bogeys and raised about $5,000 for his team.

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Carolina dreaming: Jeff Maes and Laszlo Molnar became the first wrestlers in school history to become four-time NCAA tournament qualifiers with strong performances in the Pacific 10 Championships last weekend.

Maes placed third in the 126-pound division, and Molnar finished third at 167 pounds. Ken Workman, unseeded in the 142-pound bracket, upset top-seeded Tony Evans of Boise State in the first round and won two more matches before losing to Oregon’s Cory Sonnen, 5-4, in the final.

Maes, Molnar and Workman will be joined in Raleigh, N.C., for the March 17-19 NCAA championships by teammate Dwayne Buth, who placed third at 190 pounds.

“I think we surprised a lot of people,” Fullerton Coach Ardeshir Asgari said. “We also had four NCAA qualifiers last year, which is the second-highest in school history. We had seven qualifiers three years ago, but that was when our budget was $100,000. Now, it’s one-third of that.”

Titan Notes

Saturday’s basketball game between Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara in Titan Gym has been moved to 4:30 p.m. to accommodate Prime Ticket, which will televise the game. . . . The women’s gymnastic team’s score of 194.1 in Friday’s meet against Michigan was the fourth-highest home score in school history. The Titans travel to UCLA Friday to face the Bruins and Michigan State in a tri-meet. . . . The Fullerton women’s fencing team won the Intercollegiate Fencing Conference of Southern California title with an 11-1 record, while the men finished fifth with a 4-8 mark. Both teams, coached by Heizaburo Okawa, will compete in the NCAA Western regionals this weekend at USC. The NCAA championships are March 18-22 at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass.