Kotsay’s 9 RBIs Lead Fullerton Past Delaware

Cal State Fullerton’s Mark Kotsay has had more than his share of big games. And Thursday, for the first time in his career, Kotsay drove in nine runs, tying a 10-year-old NCAA tournament record.

For Kotsay, however, that wasn’t nearly as important as Fullerton (44-14) getting a 19-8 victory over Delaware in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional and advancing into today’s 5 p.m. (PDT) winners’ bracket game against Rice (40-21).

“Records don’t concern me,” Kotsay said. “It’s wins that concern me from here on out. Everyone contributed, and we got our first win in a regional atmosphere. That’s the important thing.”

Kotsay went five for five, including a three-run homer and a pair of doubles, and scored three runs on a day when the temperature consistently was in the high 90s and reached 102 degrees briefly in Wichita State’s Eck Stadium.

Kotsay’s hitting rivaled the heat. Had he not been thrown out at third trying for a triple in the sixth, he would have hit for the cycle. He had a chance for a sixth hit in the game that would have tied another NCAA tournament record, but he walked on five pitches in the eighth inning.

It was the first time Fullerton has scored more than 10 runs in a game since mid-April. Not long after that 14-2 victory over Nevada, the Titans tumbled into an agonizing slump when they won only four of 14 games and lost the ranking as the nation’s top team.

“I didn’t know it had been that long,” Kotsay said. “But it didn’t surprise me that we scored that many runs today, and I feel we’re capable of putting more up. We had a lot of people contribute and do well.”

But Kotsay was the lightning rod of an 18-hit, three-homer day for the Titans, who are seeking their third consecutive College World Series trip.

His RBI total matched the playoff record set by Bill Reynolds of Maine in a 1986 regional tournament game against St. John’s. It also surpassed his previous high of seven RBIs, set when he was a freshman in a game against Florida State that tied a College World Series record. Kotsay batted in five runs last year in Fullerton’s 11-5 victory over USC for the national championship.

Kotsay, who had gone nine games without hitting a homer, hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning after his three-run double sparked a seven-run Titan fourth. Kotsay’s season RBI total soared to 86, and his batting average climbed to .406. Kotsay was six for nine in the last two games of the series against Miami ending the regular season, and has 11 hits in his last 14 at-bats (.786).

Outfielder Jeremy Giambi also had a big day with three hits and a two-run homer.Giambi’s homer was his sixth of the year and got him back on track after going two for 12 in the Miami series.

“I think the hitting trickled down through the whole lineup,” Giambi said.

Coach Augie Garrido said the important thing was getting runners on base ahead of Kotsay and Giambi. “Mark’s day was complemented by the way the table was set by the other players,” Garrido said. “That’s what hasn’t been happening. That was what was pleasing about this game. [Kotsay and Giambi] got their hits with runners on base. When it goes well, it can be contagious.”

Second baseman Jerome Alviso, who moved into the leadoff spot, had two hits and C.J. Ankrum, who bats ahead of Kotsay, had three, including a bases-empty homer in the eighth, along with three RBIs.

“We’ll continue to keep him in the leadoff spot against right-handers,” Garrido said. “We may move him down to the No. 9 spot against left-handers, but we consider that an important spot for setting things up too.”

While most of the attention went to the offense, the Titans got a solid pitching performance from starter Scott Hild (9-3). Hild gave up only two hits and one run in five innings, walked one and struck out five. “He did fine,” associate head coach George Horton said. “The good thing too was that we were able to get him out early.”

Garrido said that will enable Hild to return as the starter in a fourth game if the Titans get that far. Mike Greenlee, Steve Cardona and Dan White each worked short relief stints.Delaware (44-11) finished with eight hits.

Kirk Irvine (11-3) will be the starting pitcher against Rice today, leaving Brent Billingsley (11-1) for Fullerton’s third game. Shawn Onley (7-3) will start for Rice.

* 49ERS LOSE: Southwest Missouri State defeated Long Beach State, 5-3. C10

* USC WINS: The Trojans routed Akron, 20-10, in the Central II Regional in Lubbock, Tex. C10

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Kotsay’s Day

Mark Kotsay’s five-for-five, nine-RBI performance in the NCAA Midwest Regional:

* First inning--Line-drive single to right, driving in one run.

* Second inning--Infield hit off pitcher Chris Dillon’s glove.

* Fourth inning--Double to right-center, advancing to third when the ball is bobbled in the outfield. Three runs scored.

* Fifth inning--Three-run home run to right-center.

* Sixth inning--Double to left center, driving in two runs.

* Eighth inning--Walk