Gymnasts Happy With Third Place

It isn’t often that a team finishes third in a conference meet and comes away feeling really good about it.

That happened to the Cal State Fullerton women’s gymnastics team Saturday night in the Big West Conference meet. The Titans set a school record with a 193.575 score but still finished behind Boise State and Utah State.

“We had a great meet, and some great performances,” Titan Coach Lynn Rogers said. But the Titans didn’t have the depth of the teams that finished ahead of them.

“That translates into dollars,” Rogers said. “Both those schools definitely have an advantage over us now in scholarship money, facilities and recruiting resources. It’s probably the difference of about one more outstanding athlete.”

The Titans won the title in three of the first four years the Big West held conference meets, but they’ve finished third the last two years.

Rogers was especially pleased with several individual performances.

Sophomore Katy Maty led the way. She finished in a tie for first on the uneven bars and in floor exercise, and took the individual all-around championship with a 38.975 score.

Sophomore Cortney Bogart had a school-record score of 9.875 on the balance beam but finished second to Boise State’s Diana Loosli (9.925). Heather Fritzsche, a senior, tied for third on the vault with a 9.8 score.

The inability of junior Alexis Lott to regain the form she showed before last year’s knee injury hurt the team’s depth. Lott won the conference title in the uneven bars and was a co-champion in floor exercise in 1995 as a sophomore. She competed on a limited basis this year, and only on the beam Saturday.

The Titans qualified for the NCAA West Regional, April 5 at Boise State, but they probably will be without Maty. She injured her right knee on her dismount from the beam, her final event Saturday.

Junior Christy Lutz, who competes on the bars and in floor exercise, injured her right foot. “We thought at first that it might be a facture, but it appears to be a sprain,” said Rogers, who said he’s hopeful she will be ready for the regional.

But the Titans’ strength drops off sharply without Maty.

“We’ll move some other people into her positions, but we’ll definitely be dropping down in scores,” Rogers said. “It’s unfortunate because she had a good chance to get to the nationals this year. Hopefully, though, she’ll still have another two good years will us, and will still have that chance.”

*

Freshman outfielder Rachel Olvera improved her batting average more than 100 points in the Titans’ five games in the Pony Invitational softball tournament.

Olvera went from .270 to .389 with 11 hits in 17 at-bats (.646).

Olvera, who has the best running speed of anyone on the team, was chosen as Big West field player of the week for her performance. Olvera played in high school at Ontario Chaffey.

The Titans won three of five games in the tournament, but their 10-13 record remains the worst among the conference’s nine teams.

*

All proceeds from the exhibition game between the Titans and the Angels at 3:30 p.m. Monday at Titan Field will go to the Fullerton baseball program.

The teams also played last year at Tempe in the Angels’ first exhibition game. Monday’s game will be the Angels’ final tuneup before they start the regular season April 2 in Anaheim Stadium against the Boston Red Sox.

“The Angels have always been great friends to our program, and we appreciate what they’re doing in our behalf,” Titan Coach George Horton said.

When the teams played last year, the Titans used wooden bats, rather than their regular aluminum, and probably will again this time. The Angels won, 11-7.

*

Former Titan Mark Kotsay has been sent to the Florida Marlins’ minor league camp after a good showing in spring training with the major league club. Kotsay hit .371 with 13 hits in 35 at-bats. He had eight RBIs and one home run.

Kotsay is expected to be assigned to double-A Portland, Maine, for the start of the minor league season.

It will be Kotsay’s first full pro season. He had only 60 at-bats late last season for Kane County, the Marlins’ Class A team in Illinois, after playing for Team USA last summer.

Kotsay also played 2 1/2 months in the Hawaiian fall league.

Titan Notes

Orlando deCastroverde had a 1-2 record in the 118-pound division of the NCAA wrestling championships last week at Northern Iowa. Steve Duran was winless in two matches at 158 pounds. . . . The men’s fencing team finished 22nd in the NCAA meet last weekend at Air Force Academy. Brian Clawson was 14th in epee, and Renato Gates was 24th in foil. . . . The women’s tennis team has lost nine consecutive matches and is 4-13 for the season. . . . The baseball team is ranked 22nd by Collegiate Baseball but unranked by Baseball America.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Coming Attractions

Here’s a look at key games this week for Cal State Fullerton:

* Baseball against Pacific, 7 tonight and Friday, and 1 p.m. Saturday at Titan Field. The Titans are 18-13, 6-3 in the Big West.

* Softball against Tennessee, 5 today at Titan Softball Complex, at Long Beach State, 1 p.m. Saturday, and at UC Santa Barbara, noon Sunday. The Titans are 10-13, 0-6 in the Big West.