COLLEGE BASEBALL REGIONALS : Cal State Fullerton Makes It Look Easy : South Regional: Top-ranked Titans eliminate James Madison, 9-1, and will face Rice today.

When everything is going well for the top-ranked Cal State Fullerton baseball team, it looks so easy.

That was the case Friday in a 9-1 victory that eliminated James Madison from the NCAA South Regional. Fullerton (51-9) advanced to today’s 9 a.m. (PDT) game against Rice, the regional’s only other unbeaten team. Rice defeated LSU, 15-7. The winner will advance to the championship round Sunday.

Outfielder Tony Miranda had four of Fullerton’s 16 hits, including a two-run homer, and pitcher Jon Ward gave up only one hit in 6 1/3 innings before fading in the 90-degree heat and 55% humidity of Louisiana State’s Alex Box Stadium.

“The heat definitely got to me,” said Ward, who gave up six walks, including two in a row in the seventh that gave him the rest of the afternoon off.

Miranda turned up his own brand of heat on James Madison pitchers, driving in three runs and scoring another. “I just tried to challenge myself with each at-bat, and today I was fortunate,” Miranda said.

Ward (9-3) had a no-hitter until Juan Dorsey dropped a bunt down the third-base line and beat it out leading off the sixth. “I really didn’t think that much about it,” Ward said. “I just sort of laughed at it, with it coming as it did.”

Ward said he heard some fans “yelling to me about a no-hitter when I went out there in the fifth,” but he gave little thought to it. “I just thought it was funny because we make that play all the time in practice. I just cared about winning the game, and we did that.”

It was the Titans’ 12th consecutive victory.

Mark Chavez came on in relief in the seventh, and the Titans got out of the inning on a slick double play that went from first baseman D.C. Olsen to shortstop Jack Jones to Chavez, who covered first.

The Dukes also threatened in the eighth when Chavez gave up two walks and Kevin Nehring singled to load the bases. But the Titans got out of the inning with only one run with Mark Kotsay pitching in relief, thanks to a diving catch by Robert Matos in right field.

“I was playing a little in the gap anyway, and I got a good jump on it, and when I saw I had a chance I laid out for it,” said Matos, who had replaced Jeremy Giambi in the late innings so Giambi could rest a bruised instep.

Coach Augie Garrido said Ward’s pitching controlled the game early, but the two defensive plays kept Fullerton in command late.

“The double play and Robert’s catch kept their momentum in check,” Garrido said, “and we had a good day offensively.”

In the Titans’ first, C.J. Ankrum doubled and scored when Giambi lined a shot that hit losing pitcher Jeff Hafer on the right leg and bounded over the third baseman’s head for a double.

Fullerton added two runs in the fifth. Miranda led off with a double and scored on Kotsay’s ground single to right. Kotsay later scored on Brian Loyd’s sacrifice fly after Giambi’s second hit of the game.

Miranda’s 10th homer of the season in the sixth sent Hafer to the sideline with the Titans leading, 5-0.

The Titans got rolling again in the eighth. Jones singled and scored on Tony Martinez’s triple. Miranda’s fourth hit drove in Martinez and built the cushion to 7-0. Fullerton added two more runs in the ninth. Kotsay doubled, Matos singled and both scored on Loyd’s double.

James Madison Coach Kevin Anderson came away impressed with the Titans.

“They have a really good combination of speed and power,” Anderson said. “I was very impressed with their ability to make the big play. They also do a very good job of two-strike hitting.

“And their approach to the game is super. They think they’re going to catch every ball that’s hit. They’re as good as any team we’ve played this season.”

*

Titan Notes

Fullerton outfielder C.J. Ankrum has been named to the Mizuno Freshman All-America team selected by the editors of Collegiate Baseball. . . . Pitcher Jon Ward is listed as the 20th-best prospect in Southern California for the June amateur draft by Baseball America. No draft-eligible Titans are listed among the top 100 draft prospects. . . . Second baseman Joe Fraser’s 12-game hitting streak ended against James Madison.