Baseball Facility Needs to Match Quality Level of Successful Team

The Cal State Fullerton-Long Beach State baseball series this past weekend underlined what a good thing Fullerton has going with its baseball program.

The Titans are ranked No. 1 in the nation in all three polls after winning two of three games from the 49ers. A year ago the Titans reached the semifinals of the College World Series.

And the fans are starting to show their appreciation this season as well. The three-game series drew a total of 5,757, an average of 1,919.

“It’s a good example of what can be accomplished in Southern California with college baseball,” Fullerton Coach Augie Garrido said.

But Fullerton’s facilities haven’t kept pace with the quality of the program.

It’s probably good that the first Big West tournament, May 12-14, will be at Blair Field in Long Beach, not Fullerton, because Titan Field isn’t ready for it.

There are no permanent restrooms for fans, only portable ones. And the small trailer of a press box wasn’t big enough to accommodate the reporters that attended the Long Beach series, much less the number a Big West championship tournament should attract.

The grass also looked bad.

Merton Johnson, director of landscape services, says the problem with the grass has been caused by the heavy rain combined with cool weather this spring. “With that and the heavy wear, the turf just hasn’t responded,” he said. “But it should start doing better now.”

The games can still be played without any of the improvements, of course, but it’s not the kind of image the university should project for a showcase team. Maybe by 1996, when Fullerton plays host to the Big West tournament, at least some improvements will be made.

“We all know the problems exist, and I think the administration is moving in the right direction to fix them,” Garrido said.

Athletic Director John Easterbrook has been in his job only about seven months, but he quickly recognized the need.

“I want to get the restrooms in as quickly as possible,” Easterbrook said. “And I think a completely finished ballpark is needed. It will make people enjoy coming to the game more.

“That’s one of my priorities. But we need to raise some money to be able to do some of the things we’d like to do. We’re in the process of talking to a number of possible corporate sponsors now.”

There may be other things to make the atmosphere more festive.

The Diamond Club had a barbecue at Sunday’s game, setting up tables and chairs in the area beyond first base. It showed that a few picnic tables with brightly colored umbrellas could quickly produce patio-type food-and-drink courts in the open areas along the third- and first-base lines on a regular basis.

Garrido believes that with continued improvements in the facility, some additional promotion and strong teams, attendance will keep growing.

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Women’s gymnastics Coach Lynn Rogers was disappointed his team didn’t qualify for the NCAA finals, and Cristi Clifford failed to advance in the all-around.

But things could have been a lot worse at the West Regional last weekend at Oregon State.

Everyone got a scare when promising freshman Christy Lutz fell off the uneven bars, landing on her head.

“It could have been much more serious, but it turned out to be a neck sprain,” Rogers said.

Rogers left the meet at the halfway point to go to the hospital with Lutz, and he said the other gymnasts were anxious about Lutz the rest of the way.

Rogers said the Titans could have qualified if Lutz hadn’t been injured and Clifford hadn’t fallen from the beam for the third consecutive meet.

“Christy Lutz has probably been our best performer on the beam, and one of our best in floor exercise, and she wasn’t able to compete in either one,” Rogers said.

He hoped to finish third behind UCLA and Oregon State, but Stanford, a team the Titans defeated in the regular season, took that spot with a score 1.45 points higher.

“Stanford just missed qualifying for the nationals by a couple tenths of a point, so if everything had gone well for us we had a good chance to make it,” Rogers said.

One of the meet’s highlights was a strong performance by walk-on Staci Henry, filling in for Lutz. “She hadn’t been competing much on the beam, but with Christy out, she was forced in there. She hit on her routine and got a pretty good score,” he said.

The Titans will have everyone back next year for another run at the nationals.

“I think we did better than anyone expected us to do at the start of the season,” Rogers said. “We didn’t accomplish what we hoped we would because of some problems, but we felt we still had a good season.”

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Two Fullerton track and field athletes had good showings in the Big West Challenge Cup held on the Fullerton campus Saturday.

Casie Lozano won three events in the women’s division, taking first in the 100 and 200 meters as well as the high jump. She was timed in 12.46 in the 100, 25.63 in the 200 and cleared 5 feet 2 inches in the high jump.

In the men’s division, Zaylore Stout won the high jump at 6-8 and the triple jump at 46-11.

Long Beach State won the men’s division with Fullerton second. UC Santa Barbara was first in the women’s division with Fullerton fourth among the four teams.

Titan Notes

Riverside Community College Coach Bob Schermerhorn was at Fullerton Monday for his interview for the basketball coaching position. Utah assistant Donny Daniels, a former Fullerton player and assistant coach, is scheduled to visit today, and interim coach Bob Hawking will be interviewed Thursday. An announcement is expected early next week. . . . The Titan softball team was ranked third nationally in the most recent USA Today poll. . . . Outfielder Mark Kotsay continues to lead the Big West in batting average (.435), home runs (10), runs batted in (51) and runs scored (47).