COLLEGE WORLD SERIES : Tennessee Slammed by Fullerton, Kotsay

The feeling was familiar for Cal State Fullerton’s Mark Kotsay when he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the second inning of Monday’s game against Tennessee at the College World Series.

“Going into that at-bat, I kind of thought about last year,” said Kotsay, who as a freshman hit a grand slam against Florida State in the 1994 World Series. “I was thinking about what it felt like last year when I rounded third base after hitting the ball out.”

Kotsay got to relive the experience by drilling right-hander R.A. Dickey’s first pitch into the left-field bleachers. The grand slam was one of four hits by Kotsay and the key blow in a six-run inning that helped Fullerton defeat the Volunteers, 11-1, before 8,000.

Top-seeded Fullerton (55-9) is 2-0 in the tournament and has won 16 consecutive games. The Titans, who finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the nation, are off until Thursday, when they will play the survivor of an elimination game between Tennessee (53-15) and Stanford, an 8-3 winner over Clemson on Monday night.

“Today, Cal State Fullerton played like the No. 1 team in the country,” Tennessee Coach Rod Delmonico said. “I was impressed with their hitters.”

It was almost impossible not to be. Fullerton got 16 hits and manufactured several scoring opportunities with bunts.

Besides Kotsay, who had a sacrifice bunt in the first inning and is now 12 for 21 in two World Series, Fullerton got an outstanding offensive performance from senior first baseman D.C. Olsen.

Olsen had spent much of Sunday night at the hospital because of a kidney stone. He passed the stone at 3 a.m. and left the hospital two hours later.

Olsen had three hits against Tennessee, including a solo home run in the seventh that finished Dickey (14-4). Olsen hit his 14th homer immediately after Fullerton second baseman Joe Fraser had hit a two-run shot, his seventh.

“Once I passed the kidney stone, I felt fine,” Olsen said, “But I was real scared before that.”

Tony Miranda and C.J. Ankrum had two hits and Jeremy Giambi drove in two runs for the Titans, who also got a stellar pitching performance from Jon Ward.

Ward (10-3), a 6-foot-6 junior right-hander, gave up one run, four hits and struck out four in seven innings.

“This is special because last year I did not get a chance to play in the World Series,” said Ward, who last week was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the eighth round of the draft. “It took a lot of hard work to get to this point, so when the team gave me the big lead, I knew what I had to do.”

Dickey said his task was clear when Kotsay came to bat in the second with the bases loaded and Fullerton leading, 3-1. But Kotsay had other ideas.

“It was a changeup away,” Dickey said, “and he hit it like he knew it was coming.”

The Titans are now in good position to do what no other top-seeded team has done since the current format was adopted in 1988--win the title. One more Fullerton victory will put the Titans in Saturday’s championship game.

Should they get there, it’s likely that Kotsay will be leading the way.

Stanford 8, Clemson 3--Freshman right-hander Kyle Peterson (14-1) pitched a complete game as the eighth-seeded Cardinal (40-24) eliminated the fifth-seeded Tigers (54-14).

Peterson gave up eight hits, struck out seven and did not walk a batter.

Dusty Allen and Steve Carver hit home runs for Stanford, which took advantage of four Clemson errors.

College World Series Notes

Junior right-hander Brian Cooper (7-2) will start today for USC (46-20) in an elimination game against Florida State (53-15). Florida State Coach Mike Martin changed plans and will start left-hander Scooby Morgan (4-2) instead of All-American right-hander Jonathan Johnson (12-3), who beat Oklahoma in the Seminoles’ opener on Friday. . . . Tennessee first baseman Todd Helton, who shared Collegiate Baseball magazine’s player-of-the-year award with Fullerton’s Mark Kotsay, was 0 for 4 against the Titans. He drove in a run in the first inning with a groundout to second.

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Today’s Games

* Florida State (53-15) vs. USC (46-20), 12:35 p.m. PDT

* Tennessee (53-15) vs. Stanford (40-24), 4:35 p.m. PDT

* TV: ESPN, ESPN2.