Baseball Team Is Sensitive to Changes in Atmospheric Pressure

How can Cal State Fullerton roll past top 20-ranked teams this season, then lose two of three games to two second-division teams in the Big West Conference in the last three weeks?

The Big West has shown strength against outside opposition with an impressive 156-66 record this season. But it’s still a huge surprise when New Mexico State, then San Jose State win series from the Titans, who are still the nation’s most successful team with a 38-6 record.

After all, New Mexico State (20-24) is last in the Big West and has won only two other times in 15 conference games. San Jose State is 25-22 and 6-9 in the conference.

“It was a case of very high incentive on one side and not as high on the other,” Titan Coach Augie Garrido said. “In each case, when we got into environments on the road that didn’t have a lot of excitement to them, we haven’t responded as well.”

Garrido said the atmosphere at New Mexico State and San Jose State didn’t measure up to what it’s been at home this season, or in road games at Stanford, Texas and USC, where the Titans are a combined 5-1.

“One of the things that has changed this year at home is that it’s become more of an exciting atmosphere for our players, with our fans getting more involved, and the improvements that have been made at the field,” Garrido said. “We’ve focused on creating a championship environment at home, and we’ve done that now.”

Garrido doesn’t believe his players are letting down. “And I don’t think we’re taking anything for granted,” he said. “But I’ve always said luck goes to the team that plays the hardest, and both those teams played very hard against us.”

The pitching was generally solid against San Jose State. Brent Billingsley had a nine-inning, four-hitter in the first game, and the Titans won, 3-1. Kirk Irvine gave up only five hits and two runs, one of them unearned, in the Titans’ 3-2 loss in the third game. Scott Hild, however, was belted for nine hits and five runs in the 4 1/3 innings he pitched in the second game, which the Spartans won, 6-4.

The Titans, who have been averaging 12 hits a game, were limited to 19 in the three-game series. Despite that, the Titans still rank third in the nation in hitting at .351.

The unexpected turn of events, however, has made what was expected to be a Fullerton runaway into a tight conference race.

Long Beach State (28-18), which is tied with the Cal State Fullerton for first and making its typical strong finish, hosts the Titans in a three-game series beginning Friday night at Blair Field.

Garrido won’t have to worry about a flat atmosphere this weekend. The Fullerton-Long Beach series has become one of college baseball’s most competitive. Each team has won 11 games since Dave Snow, a former assistant under Garrido, took over as head coach at Long Beach in 1989.

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Distance runner Sarah MacDougall turned in her top performance of the season at the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational last weekend, running the 5,000 meters in 17 minutes 12.7 seconds.

“That’s the best time of the season in the conference and the fifth best of the year in California,” Titan track Coach John Elders said.

The provisional qualifying time for the nationals is 17 minutes, and Elders is optimistic MacDougall will be below that time later in the season, based on the way she’s progressing.

“Every week lately she seems to move up to a higher level,” Elders said. “She’s had a personal best in every meet this season except one, and I definitely think she’s approaching being a national-caliber runner.”

MacDougall, a sophomore, wasn’t a strong prospect coming out of La Crescenta Crescenta Valley High, and a knee injury set her back during her freshman year at Fullerton. Then MacDougall, a single mother, says she missed almost a year of running when she was pregnant.

“She came back from her pregnancy with a real determination to be successful,” Elders said. “Her improvement has really been remarkable.”

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The women’s tennis team began play Wednesday in the conference championships at Ojai against UC Irvine, a team the Titans defeated, 8-1, last weekend. Coach Bill Reynolds was apprehensive about playing Irvine again so quickly, but the Titans won again, this time by a 5-1 margin without needing to move into the doubles round.

Fullerton plays top-seeded UC Santa Barbara today. The Titans were seeded eighth, ahead of Irvine, San Jose State and Utah State.

Fullerton (10-13) has won six consecutive matches since losing eight in a row.

“I feel the team is playing well now,” Reynolds said. “When we had that losing streak, we were playing some very good teams, but I think that helped us.”

Titan Notes

Jason Gill, a former Titan baseball player who is a volunteer assistant this season, will be in the dugout opposite his older brother when Fullerton plays Long Beach State this weekend. Chris Gill, who played five years in the Cincinnati Reds’ organization, is a 49ers’ assistant coach. . . . Orlando de Castroverde was named to the Pacific 10 wrestling assn.’s all-academic first team. . . . Sprinter Obi Obadike set a school record in the 200 meters with a time of 21.65 seconds last weekend at a meet in Pomona. . . .The softball team is ranked ninth nationally in this week’s coaches’ poll. . . . .Gymnasts Grace Millard of Chesterfield, Va., and Elizabeth Schneider of Lawrenceville, Ga., have signed letters of intent with Fullerton.