Cal State Fullerton Is Preparing for Another Battle With Tigers

Cal State Fullerton is going back to the scene of two of its most successful NCAA regional tournament appearances in the 1990s, but this time the two-time defending College World Series championship team is waiting.

The Titans (44-15) were seeded second Monday and assigned to the South II regional in Baton Rouge, La. LSU (42-17) is seeded No. 1.

Coach Skip Bertman’s Tigers won the last two titles after Fullerton won in 1995 with a team led by outfielder Mark Kotsay and pitcher Ted Silva. Fullerton and LSU have won seven national titles between them, with LSU winning four in the last seven years.

Fullerton won regionals at LSU in 1995 and 1992--the only times in the last 10 years LSU hasn’t advanced to Omaha. The Titans eliminated LSU in the second round of the 1994 College World Series.

“I don’t know what it is about that ballpark, but we’ve played well there in the past,” Titan Coach George Horton said.

Fullerton begins play Thursday in the double-elimination tournament at 1 p.m. (PDT) against Harvard (34-10), the Ivy League champion.

Other first-round games match LSU against Nicholls State (28-32) and third-seeded Tulane (47-13) against Southwestern Louisiana (39-20).

USC (40-15) is seeded No. 1 at Clemson, where the Trojans will play Fordham in its opening game.

Big West tournament champion Long Beach State (37-20-1) was seeded third and West Coast Conference champion Loyola Marymount (33-21-1) was seeded sixth at Stanford, where the host Cardinal is ranked No. 1 despite losing the Pac-10 playoff series to Washington last weekend.

Miami (46-9) is ranked No. 1 in the nation and is the top-seeded team in its regional. Other No. 1-seeded hosts are Florida (42-15), Florida State (49-18) and Wichita State (55-5).

The strongest field appears to be at Wichita State, where the Shockers will be joined by second-seeded Georgia Tech (38-20), Arizona State (34-21), Oklahoma State (38-19) and Arkansas (37-19).

“They’re all tough regionals, but Wichita looks the toughest, and I think the West is very strong too,” Horton said. “I was surprised that seven SEC teams made it this year. It looks like we could have been seeded No. 1 at either Clemson or Texas A&M; if we had won our tournament.”

Fullerton lost two of four games in the Big West tournament, but Horton says he isn’t concerned. “I don’t think it will have anything to do with how we play this week,” he said. “And we’ve still won 18 of our last 21 games.”

Horton said he is pleased with the regional assignment despite LSU’s recent success, and the heat and humidity in Louisiana.

“On paper, it looks like it might be a good choice for us,” Horton said. “LSU has a lot of left-handed hitters in their lineup and, from what we’ve heard, they have had more problems this year against left-handed pitching.”

Fullerton’s top three starting pitchers are left-handers. Seniors Benny Flores (12-0) and Erasmo Ramirez (10-5), transfers from Cal State Northridge, have won a combined 20 or more games for three consecutive years. They pitched for Northridge two years ago when the Matadors fell a game short of reaching the College World Series. Northridge lost to Florida State in the title game at Stanford. Fullerton’s third regular starter, junior left-hander Greg Jacobs, is 4-3.

Both Ramirez and Flores said they have no concerns about the heat.

“I like pitching in the heat, and so does Mo,” Flores said. “I think it keeps my arm loose. Mo and I never turn on the air-conditioner in the hotel room when we’re on the road and we both wear sweatshirts to bed to keep our arms warm.”

Horton said the Titans had some problems with cramping from the heat in 1995 in Baton Rouge. “One of the things you want to have in that climate is a good bullpen and depth at catching,” Horton said. Fullerton has been platooning catchers David Trentine and Craig Patterson.

Ramirez said he’s just happy to back in a regional.

“I’m really excited,” Ramirez said. “Getting back a regional is the big reason we came to Fullerton.”

Harvard has two players from Orange County on its roster. Flores and Ramirez were teammates on a high school all-star team with outfielder Brian Ralph, who played at Dana Hills High School. Donnie Jamieson, who is 3-1 for Harvard this season, pitched for El Dorado High.

“He lives just down the street from me in Placentia, but I haven’t seen him in about three years,” Flores said.

LSU catcher Brad Cresse, who has 22 home runs and 72 runs batted in this season, played for Marina High. He is the son of Dodger bullpen coach Mark Cresse.