Ramirez Pitches Well Day After Accident

It had been an uneasy night for Cal State Fullerton’s coaches and pitcher Erasmo Ramirez after Ramirez suffered a broken nose in a freak batting practice mishap.

“I slept with one eye open all night,” said Titan pitcher Benny Flores, Ramirez’s close friend and road-trip roommate.

But on Saturday morning, Ramirez was feeling better. Tape covered the gash at the top of his nose, the swelling had diminished and the bleeding had virtually stopped.

The best news for Ramirez: no headache, the telltale sign of a possible concussion.

And a few hours later, Ramirez took the mound against host UC Santa Barbara. A day earlier he was carried off the same field after being hit by a thrown ball.

Ramirez, keeping a tissue in his back pocket to blot away traces of blood, pitched seven strong innings, giving up only one run on five hits in Fullerton’s 11-5 victory.

Titan Coach George Horton called it “one of the most courageous performances I’ve ever seen.”

It was a best-case scenario for the Titans, who are relying heavily on Ramirez in the postseason that begins next Thursday in the Big West tournament. The Titans are ranked as high as No. 8 nationally.

The victory assured Fullerton (41-13, 24-5) of sole possession of first in the Big West’s Southern Division with one regular-season game remaining today against the Gauchos. The Titans had clinched the No. 1 seeding in the conference playoffs earlier.

But Ramirez took Saturday’s game to a higher level, a day after the Titans were stunned by his injury and a loss to Santa Barbara that ended their 14-game winning streak.

“You should have seen my face yesterday when the doctor at the health service told me that I might miss two weeks,” Ramirez said. “When he said that, my heart just dropped. I had tears in my eyes. But when I came back, I told the coaches I still wanted to pitch.”

Fullerton coaches talked with the team doctor by telephone Friday night, and he cleared Ramirez to pitch if there were no continuing ill effects. But, even after that, they still didn’t know what to expect.

“It was more than we could ever have dreamed of,” Horton said. “He pitched seven great innings.”

Ramirez said he spent the night “tossing and turning,” but that most of the pain was gone by morning. “I felt a little lightheaded because I hadn’t eaten much, but I wanted to pitch.” he said. “I knew it was going to take more than this to keep me out.”

The Gauchos managed their only run off Ramirez in the third inning, when he gave up two of his four walks. Santa Barbara’s other four runs came in the ninth off reliever Marco Hanlon.

The Titans pounded five pitchers for 13 hits. Outfielder Aaron Rowand, who was hitless Friday, had a three-run double in the third, and third baseman Ryan Moore hit his third homer in two days, a three-run shot in the fifth.

But the day belonged to Ramirez, who picked up his ninth victory in 14 decisions.

The victory enabled Ramirez and Flores (11-0) to reach their goal of a third consecutive season with a combined 20 or more victories.