Garrido Gets 900th Coaching Victory as Titans Beat Texas

Cal State Fullerton won its 14 consecutive game Saturday, and Augie Garrido picked up his 900th victory as the Titans’ coach, but it wasn’t as enjoyable for Garrido as it might have been.

Fullerton pounded out 19 hits and got a solid pitching performance from Brent Billingsley in the 13-3 victory over Texas, but Garrido had to watch it on closed-circuit TV in a room inside the stadium after his chronic back problem flared up.

Garrido said his back began bothering him Friday, when he bent over to pick up a ball in a pregame drill. The pain and spasms continued overnight. “This is either the second or third time it’s happened to me on trips to Texas too,” Garrido said. “I think the flying aggravates it sometimes. I don’t know if the cold on Friday had anything to do with it, but something set it off. The Texas team doctor and trainer have been helping me with it.”

The temperatures went from the low 40s on Friday to 69 Saturday, and the Titans’ hitting improved along with it. The Titans (14-1) were held to seven hits in a 1-0 victory Friday, but they came back strong on offense in the second game of the three-game series.

Fullerton, off to its best start in school history, scored six runs in the first inning, built a 12-2 lead after the top of fourth and coasted the rest of the way behind Billingsley (5-0). He gave up only four hits over eight innings, including a leadoff homer to Trey Salinas in the eighth. Billingsley struck out nine, his season high, and walked only one.

“Maybe the weather had something to do with us hitting better,” shortstop Jack Jones said. “The hitters just didn’t seem to get loose Friday in the cold. Then, when we started out slow, I think we got too anxious at the plate. Their pitcher did a good job, though, and that probably was a lot of it too. But today the weather was a lot better and we came out really ready to play.”

Jones led the Titans with four hits and three runs batted in. First baseman C.J. Ankrum had three hits, including a double and a triple, and two RBIs. Outfielder Jeremy Giambi also went three for five, continuing his hot pace. Giambi has 12 hits in his last 18 at-bats. He also had a double and a triple in the exhibition game Thursday against the Angels, although those hits don’t count in the regular-season statistics.

“It doesn’t seem to matter what pitch they throw me, my swing has been right there on it lately,” said Giambi. “Sometimes it goes that way. When you’re going good and everything’s flying right, you don’t even think about it, and that’s where I am right now. I thought the ball really carried well for me today.”

Scott Seal, the designated hitter who homered for Friday’s only run, also had a three-run, bases-loaded double off the left field wall in Fullerton’s big first inning, but two Longhorn errors also contributed to starter Donny Barker’s problems. The Titans got to Barker (3-2) for four more runs in the fourth in a five-run inning. Giambi and Jones each had ground-rule doubles when their hits bounced over the fence after taking one hop on the artificial turf. Tony Martinez’s double also rolled to the wall in the inning.

Given that kind of support, Billingsley retired the Longhorns in order in the fourth through seventh innings and got three quick outs after the homer in the eighth. “Getting those six runs in the first really helped,” said Billingsley. “It’s a lot easier to pitch when we’re hitting like that. I made the one bad pitch on the home run. I was supposed to go inside with a changeup, but I left it over the middle of the plate.”

Associate head coach George Horton, who ran things during Garrido’s absence along with assistant Rick Vanderhook, was again pleased with Billingsley. “He neutralized a good-hitting team,” said Horton. “We were worried that they would come back strong offensively in the second game.” Reliever Todd Singelyn retired Texas in order in the ninth.

The loss left Texas, traditionally a national power, with a 10-10 record, and many of the 4,783 who were at Disch-Falk Field for the start were gone well before the finish. The series ends today.