Pitcher Takes Poor Outing in Stride
It didn’t take long for freshman Adam Johnson to establish himself as Cal State Fullerton’s top relief pitcher this season.
Through his first eight appearances, he struck out 32 in 16 2/3 innings and gave up only two runs for a 1.08 earned-run average.
But Johnson, like some of the Titans’ other pitchers, had a difficult time last weekend against Long Beach State in the first of two three-game series between the teams this season. Long Beach scored eight runs, four of them earned, against Johnson in three innings Saturday night and Johnson (1-1) lost his first game of the season.
“Long Beach is the best-hitting team we’ve faced so far,” Johnson said. “They waited until they got the pitch they were looking for. They showed a lot of discipline, which made them tough to pitch against.”
The only Fullerton pitcher to have any success against the 49ers was Erasmo Ramirez, who gave up seven hits and two runs in an opening-night 9-2 victory.
“Our pitching staff is better than we showed,” pitching coach Dave Serrano said. “You score nine runs in each of three games and you should win at least two of them.”
But Serrano, like Johnson, believes Long Beach’s hitters deserve considerable credit for the 17-9 and 10-9 49er victories.
“They took it to our pitchers,” Serrano said. “What I’m disappointed about is that we didn’t respond better.”
The Titans were without one of their three weekend starters, Jon Smith, who missed his second consecutive start because of a sore arm. Sunday starter Benny Flores was at less than full strength because of the flu. Flores, who had given up only 10 earned runs in 51 innings before facing Long Beach, gave up five earned runs in six innings.
Johnson said he wasn’t sharp either.
“I don’t want to downgrade anything Long Beach did, but my arm has felt tired for the last week,” he said. “Pitching as many innings as I have [19] isn’t that much, but I’ve been throwing a lot in the bullpen. About 98% of the time I’ve been throwing fastballs, and that wears you down a little more. But I just see it as a bump in the road I have to get over.”
Serrano hopes Smith, 2-0 with a 4.03 ERA, can be back on the mound soon.
“I don’t know whether it will be this weekend or not,” Serrano said. “We don’t want to rush him, and we’ll go at his pace.”
The Titans, who dropped to 16th in Collegiate Baseball’s rankings and 20th in Baseball America’s poll, face Sacramento State in a three-game series beginning Friday night at Fullerton.
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Loren Gualco, a freshman on the Titan women’s basketball team this past season, has made a quick jump into track.
Gualco set a school record in winning the high jump last weekend at the Cal State Northridge Invitational, clearing 5 feet 7 3/4 inches.
“She had jumped only once before that in practice,” said Ron Kamaka, who coaches the jumpers for head Coach John Elders. “She’s gutsy and has the potential for being a good jumper.”
Based on her fast start, Elders says, Gualco could eventually be an NCAA qualifier. The provisional qualifying standard is 5-10 and the automatic qualifying mark is 6-1. She narrowly missed an attempt at 5-9 at Northridge.
Two other Titan women won at Northridge. Erin Remy was first in the 1,500 meters with a personal-best time of 4 minutes 45.8 seconds, and Sarah MacDougall won the 3,000 in 10:26.01.
The men’s sprint medley team of Omar Anderson, Quincy Sims, Mike Hem and Phil Sitner also won (3:34.05).
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Bob Hawking’s three-year contract as Titan men’s basketball coach expires on Monday, and the university still hasn’t made an announcement on his status. The season has been over more than two weeks.
The uncertainty has brought the resignation of one assistant coach, chief recruiter Ronnie Dean.
Titan Notes
Freshman Jesse Carlson finished 19th among 24 competitors in the men’s epee in last weekend’s NCAA fencing championships at Notre Dame. . . . Long Beach State has won the last four regular-season baseball series against Fullerton, though the Titans won both Big West tournament games from the 49ers last year.
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Coming Attractions
Key events this week for Cal State Fullerton:
* Baseball against Sacramento State 7 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Titan Field. The Titans trail Long Beach by one game in the Big West Conference’s Southern Division. Sacramento State leads the Northern Division by one game over Pacific.
* Women’s Tennis against DePaul 2 p.m. Thursday and against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 11 a.m. Saturday, Titan tennis courts.
* Track and Field, 10 a.m. Saturday at UC Irvine’s Anteater Stadium. Five-way meet features Irvine, Air Force, Brigham Young and Minnesota.