Johnson Gets Fresh Start Against Stanford

When sophomore pitcher Adam Johnson goes to the mound to start Cal State Fullerton’s opening game in the College World Series today, he will be grateful to the guys who gave him the opportunity.

Johnson and three other Titan players were suspended last week for the super-regional series at Ohio State after a rock-throwing incident in South Bend, Ind., the regional site. But Fullerton won the series anyway to advance to Omaha.

“I’m really excited to have a team that picked us up like that,” Johnson said.

Johnson, who has a 10-3 record and 3.22 earned-run average, will have a chance to return the favor against Stanford (5 p.m., PDT, ESPN2) at Rosenblatt Stadium. Florida State (53-12) and Texas A&M; (52-16) meet at 10:30 a.m. in a game televised on CBS.

The Titans (49-12) lost two of three games at home to the Cardinal (48-13) at the start of the season, but Johnson shut out Stanford for 6 1/3 innings on two hits in the first game. Closer Kirk Saarloos held Stanford hitless in the final 2 2/3 innings and the Titans won, 8-0. The Cardinal came back to win the next two, 6-5 and 13-7.

But, as Titan Coach George Horton pointed out, “That was our first series of the season, and only the second for Stanford, so we’re both different teams now.”

Johnson agrees.

“I just know that they have a lot of good hitters through the lineup, and you can’t afford to pitch around any of them,” he said.

Stanford also has two of the nation’s top pitchers, sophomores Jason Young and Justin Wayne. Young, the scheduled starter against the Titans, has an 11-3 record and led the Pacific-10 Conference with a 3.14 ERA. Wayne is 9-1 with a 4.92 ERA.

Young pitched a complete-game, eight-hit shutout in Stanford’s 1-0 victory over USC in the opening game of the super-regional at Stanford last week.

“I thought we were a year away this season because of the starting pitchers we lost, but pitching has become our strength,” Stanford Coach Mark Marquess said. “We had a total of only eight hits in two games against USC and won both of them, so that says a lot about our pitching. Our pitchers think they’re good, and that’s half the battle.”

Horton said Fullerton’s situation is similar. The Titans lost seniors Erasmo Ramirez and Benny Flores, who combined for 23 victories last year, but came back strong behind Johnson and sophomore Matt Sorensen (11-0, 4.36). Another sophomore, left-hander Jon Smith (7-0, 2.71), was a strong third starter early in the season, but ran into arm and shoulder soreness and only recently returned to form in the super-regional.

Johnson, a right-hander who was the Titan closer a year ago, has been dominating at times, striking out 11 or more batters in six of his 15 starts.

“With him not pitching last week, he’s going to be fresh, and maybe that will be a blessing,” Titan pitching coach Dave Serrano said. “Pitchers can get a little tired at this time of the year.”

Both teams have hitters capable of making it difficult for the pitchers. Fullerton, however, has the advantage on offense, batting .344 as a team to Stanford’s .308.

Fullerton has been on a late-season home-run roll. The Titans have 89, but 52 have come in the last 22 games. Fullerton blends speed with power, and has stolen 140 bases in 197 attempts. Stanford has stolen 79 in 118 tries to go with 64 homers.

“I know how good Fullerton is,” Marquess said. “They present a lot of problems for us. They have as good of team speed as any team here. They’re very dangerous.”

Two former Southern California high school players are key figures on offense for Stanford.

Sophomore outfielder Joe Borchard of Camarillo leads Stanford with a .383 batting average, and senior Josh Hochgesang, who played at Sunny Hills, leads the team with 16 home runs and 65 RBIs.

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Actor Kevin Costner, a Cal State Fullerton alum, was expected to arrive today in time for the game against Stanford.

“He wants to be in the dugout, but the NCAA said no,” Titan sports information director Mel Franks said. “He’s bringing his glove.”

Costner attended the series in 1995 when the Titans won the championship.

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In Friday’s first-round games:

Alabama 11, Oklahoma State 2--Jeremy Brown, Antonio Bostic and Erik Smallwood hit home runs as Alabama stretched its winning streak to a school-record 16 games. The Crimson Tide (52-14) plays Sunday against Miami.

Justin Smith overcame a bumpy start and pitched six innings, striking out seven for Alabama. Carlos Gautreaux homered for Oklahoma State (46-20), which will meet Rice in Sunday’s elimination game.

Miami 8, Rice 4--A ball hit by Bobby Hill that appeared to be staying in the park when a fan reached over the wall and grabbed was ruled a home run and helped top-seeded Miami beat Rice.

The Hurricanes (47-13) rallied for four runs in the fifth to tie it and took the lead in the sixth when Kris Clute homered.

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Series at a Glance

Double-elimination first-round format:

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

* Alabama 11, Oklahoma State 2

* Miami 8, Rice 4

TODAY’S GAMES

* Florida State (53-12) vs. Texas A&M; (52-16), 10:30 a.m. (CBS)

* Cal State Fullerton (49-12) vs. Stanford (48-13), 5 p.m. (ESPN2)