The Buddy System

They might not be as well-known as some of those television and movie buddy teams, but the “Benny & Mo” show has been a hit in college baseball the last two seasons.

Benny Flores and Erasmo Ramirez, both left-handed pitchers, each won 11 games in 1997 for Cal State Northridge. Over the last two seasons there, they won 43 and lost 11.

But when Northridge wasn’t invited to the NCAA playoffs last season despite a 42-20-1 record and when budget problems appeared to leave the program on the verge of being dropped, Flores and Ramirez--the buddy team--transferred to Cal State Fullerton.

One factor underscored the decision: They wanted to pitch as seniors for a team with a chance to reach the College World Series. The Titans have done that four times in the 1990s, though not since winning the national championship in 1995.

Ramirez and Flores, who will make their first appearances for Fullerton when the Titans open the season this weekend at home against California, say they’re happy they made the decision they did.

“This is big league,” Ramirez said. “It was like a culture shock at first coming here. When I was at Northridge, you’d go around campus and people barely even knew there was a baseball team. I walk around here with a Titan baseball T-shirt on, and it’s like you’re a celebrity.”

They’re also happy to be back home. Ramirez pitched in high school at Saddleback and Flores at El Dorado.

“It’s been great to be able to eat my mom’s cooking every night,” Ramirez said. “And my parents and younger brothers will be able to see a lot more of our games.”

Neither pitcher was recruited by Fullerton out of high school, but neither developed until his sophomore season at Northridge. That year they both added a sidearm delivery to their overhead motion at the suggestion of Dan Cowgill, then the Matador pitching coach.

“That turned our careers around,” Flores said. “It gave us a whole new weapon.”

After that, Ramirez went 14-1 with a 3.74 earned-run average in 1996, and Flores was 7-2 with three saves. Northridge came within one victory of reaching the College World Series that season. The Matadors ousted host Stanford in the NCAA West Regional, with Flores getting the victory, but were beaten by Florida State in the finals.

The Matadors lost their baseball affiliation with the Western Athletic Conference after it expanded to 12 teams and were forced to compete as an independent in 1997.

Ramirez and Flores, however, continued their winning ways. Ramirez was 11-5, with six of those victories coming against nationally ranked opponents, and Flores improved to 11-3 with a 3.15 ERA.

It was a big disappointment to Ramirez and Flores when they didn’t have an opportunity to pitch in the playoffs.

“It was really tough for us to ask for our release from Northridge because the coaches there had been great to us,” Ramirez said. “It was a matter of a lack of respect for baseball by the administration.”

Said Flores: “Here there’s none of that. You get that automatic respect that comes with the success of this program. It’s been a good change for us.”

Flores says one of the differences at Fullerton is the pitching staff has more depth. “I’m not going to have to pitch nearly as many innings as I did at Northridge,” said Flores, whose 116 innings last season led the staff. “Both Mo and I would close a lot, as well as start, at Northridge.”

Titan Coach George Horton said he and his assistants have tried to assure both pitchers from the start that they are among the leaders on this year’s Titan team.

“The first day of practice we asked them to help lead the team in their stretches,” Horton said. “That’s usually something we give to the guys who have been in the program for a while, but we wanted them to know we expect that kind of leadership from them this season. And they’ve been everything we thought they’d be from that standpoint.”

Titan pitching coach Dave Serrano says he has been impressed with their work ethic as well as their pitching skills.

“Neither one is real gifted from a speed standpoint, but they’ve done it through hard work,” Serrano said. “They’ve both become complete pitchers. They’re tough and competitive and won’t give in to hitters.”