Pitching Could Be Ticket to Omaha : Baseball: The Titans’ College World Series hopes are on the rise because of team’s deep, solid staff.

Ed Parisi of Arcadia hasn’t missed a Cal State Fullerton baseball game since his son, Mike, started pitching for the Titans in 1992. Parisi is a partner in a freight company, which gives him a bit of leverage when it comes to choosing his days off. And, now, he is starting to think optimistically about some travel plans for late May and early June.

Ed Parisi is not about to jinx anything by buying non-refundable airline tickets for games that he knows might not take place, but Parisi’s son would like nothing better than to give his father a special gift: trips to the NCAA regional tournament and the College World Series.

Ah, even if ol’ Dad gladly will be paying the bills for his trip.

“He’s the one who got me into sports,” Mike Parisi said. “I feel I owe a lot of my success to him. He’s supported and encouraged me every step of the way. He’s been an important part of my life.”

If the Titans make it to the playoffs this year, certainly Parisi and his pitching pals can be expected to be key figures, particularly if the season continues the way it has been going.

Fullerton’s pitching has been superb, with only rare exceptions, and it has been a major factor in the 26-6 record and No. 1 national ranking by Collegiate Baseball going into this weekend’s three-game series against Long Beach State.

Parisi and sophomore newcomer Matt Wagner, two right-handers, virtually have been unbeatable. Wagner is 7-0 and has won a starting role after a strong showing in relief early in the season. Parisi, a junior, is 7-1 after a two-hitter in the team’s 11-0 victory over UC Santa Barbara last weekend. It was his third shutout of the season, tying a school record.

Both have eye-popping stats. Parisi’s 1.44 earned-run average is the best in the conference and 18th in the nation, and Wagner’s 1.46 is second and 19th. The team ERA of 2.62 also is the best in the league, and sixth nationally. Miami’s 2.26 is first.

Senior Chad Rolish, the third starter, has struggled a bit lately, but still has a 5-3 record and 2.43 ERA. Sophomore Ted Silva (3-1) has proved to be a capable stopper coming out of the bullpen for the second season in a row; he has eight saves in 17 appearances.

The lone pitcher who performed below expectations in the first half of the season was Dan Ricabal, the team’s most consistent pitcher a year ago when he was 11-3. His record is 3-0 this season, but his ERA is 4.98, and he has walked 23 in 35 innings.

“We felt we were an underachieving pitching staff last season, but with the guys a year older we’re doing better in general,” said George Horton, the associate head coach who handles the pitchers for Coach Augie Garrido.

Horton feels that’s especially true in Parisi’s case.

“Mike has taken a big step forward this season,” Horton said. “He’s become a pitcher instead of a thrower. . . . I like to call him a big-pitch pitcher now. He makes the big pitch when he needs it.”

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This season is taking on special importance for Parisi. It could be his last with the Titans, especially if he and the team remain successful. Parisi is thinking seriously of passing up his final year of college eligibility to sign a pro contact.

“If the team gets to the College World Series, and I have a good year, then I’ll probably be ready to go,” Parisi said.

Parisi, 6 feet 3 and 195 pounds, feels he still needs to be stronger.

“I need to pick up 10 more pounds of solid muscle,” Parisi said. “I’ve done off-season weight work in the past, and that’s always helped. I have to limit the weight work I do during the season, but I’ll work at it very seriously again once the season ends.”

But Parisi is mostly putting those pro baseball thoughts aside for now. Winning the conference championship remains his goal at this stage.

“We haven’t done that since I’ve been here, and we’re going to work hard as a team to do that,” he said. “The last two years we’ve gone into the league season just doing OK, but we’re way ahead of that this time. We’re definitely a lot deeper than we’ve been the last two years. Our pitching staff is so deep, with so many quality arms, that everyone feels confident going out there.”

Parisi, however, is beginning to feel the burden of high expectations. “It’s there at times,” he said. “Even my friends will say some things sometimes that leave me with those kinds of impressions. At the beginning of the season, most of the publicity was going to Dante (Powell, a preseason All-American outfielder), but now it seems more of the attention is being focused on me after I got off to a good start. That can be nice, but pressure comes with that, too.”

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Wagner has helped to take some of that pressure off Parisi. He has been a huge surprise, even to himself.

“I was the ninth pitcher out of 11 on the depth chart when I started the year, and now I’m starting,” he said with a smile.

Wagner came to Fullerton as a walk-on after spending his freshman year at Division II Abilene Christian.

“I liked the coach, but not the school, and the team wasn’t very good, so I decided to go somewhere else,” he said. “I wanted to come to California, and so I wound up here.”

Wagner, 6-5 and 215, was 5-1 at Abilene Christian, but he feels the record was deceiving. “I really didn’t get to pitch that much, and when I did, I didn’t pitch that well,” he said.

Horton said Wagner almost didn’t make the season’s first trip.

“Actually, it was between him and another guy for that first road trip to Stanford,” Horton recalled. “I’m glad we took him, though, because he pitched well twice that weekend and has done a great job for us ever since. Parisi is having a great year, but Matt is probably the big difference for us.”

Horton also believes Ricabal could be an important factor the rest of the way.

“Danny is pitching much better now,” Horton said. “He’s battled through this, and we feel he’s getting to the level of last year, which will really help.”

Rolish is optimistic that he can have a strong finish to his college career, too.

“Actually, I haven’t pitched poorly in any of those last three games, but my record is 0-2 in them,” he said. “I’d still like to win 10 games this season and I feel I can do that. But I just want to be able to keep us in any game I’m pitching, and I’m confident I can do that.”

Rolish, a left-hander, hopes the team’s success will work in favor of his pro aspirations as well. Unlike Parisi and Wagner, Rolish doesn’t have the classic pitching physique (5-10 and 180). He knows he’ll need to pitch exceptionally well the rest of the season to be noticed. Ample opportunity for that exists for Rolish as well as the others as Fullerton heads into the final, most important leg of the season.

“Pitching has definitely been our most consistent thing,” Horton said. “It gives you a chance to win every time out, regardless of everything else. You don’t win championships without it.”

Or even think about tentative plans for trips to Omaha, as Ed Parisi can tell you.