Horton Hoping Titans’ Layoff Wasn’t Too Long

Cal State Fullerton Coach George Horton has one concern going into the regional tournament today at Notre Dame: his team’s layoff of nearly two weeks.

“Our players seem to be fine, but we haven’t been in a competitive situation in a while,” Horton said. “I hope we can get in a relaxed intensity mode early in the first game. If we play the type of baseball we’ve played all year, we should be fine.”

The other three teams in the tournament--Notre Dame, Michigan and Creighton--played in conference tournaments last weekend.

Horton said he was comfortable with Eck Stadium, the site of the tournament. “The infield is a little slower than most of the infields in California are, and the dirt is a little softer, but it will be fair for both teams.”

The 5-year-old stadium seats 2,500.

Titan pitching coach Dave Serrano said he thinks it might give an edge to pitchers over hitters.

“There seems to be a lot of room in the gaps in the outfield,” Serrano said. “It’s going to take a good hit to get it out in the gaps.”

Center fielder Reed Johnson agreed. “There’s a lot of room to run out there,” he said.

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Cal State Fullerton outfielder Spencer Oborn, this season’s Big West player of the year, has been named Mr. Consistency for the Titans this season.

Oborn has hit successfully in 52 of 55 games.

He was hitless in the season opener against Stanford, then hit in 37 consecutive games before the streak was broken one game shy of the Big West record set by Brent Mayne in 1988.

Since then, he has had hits in 15 of 16 games, with one seven-game streak and another eight-gamer.

In those last 16 games, Oborn had 34 hits in 74 at-bats (.459) with 11 home runs, seven doubles and 34 runs batted in. For the season, he’s hitting .412 and leads the team in RBIs with 79.

The Titans haven’t played the Irish since 1995 in a regular-season tournament at Fullerton. The Titans won that game, 20-3, on the way to winning the national championship.

This will be Oborn’s first NCAA regional tournament appearance.

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Outfielder Matt Strickroth, who played at Santa Margarita High, is a freshman outfielder for Notre Dame.

“I always wanted to go to Notre Dame,” Strickroth said. “My father is a Notre Dame graduate, and I grew up watching Notre Dame football on television.”

Strickroth, 6-5 and 230 pounds, played football as well as baseball at Santa Margarita but plays only baseball for the Irish.

“I was recruited by several schools for football, but when Notre Dame offered me a scholarship in baseball the fall of my senior year, I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”

Notre Dame Coach Paul Mainieri said Jim Gattis, the former Wyoming coach who coached the South Mission Viejo team to the Little League World Series, told him about Strickroth. “Jim coached at Wyoming when I coached at Air Force, and we developed a good friendship during that time,” Mainieri said.

Strickroth has started 32 of 58 games in the outfield, at first base or as the designated hitter. He is batting .205 in 117 at-bats with three homers and 18 runs batted in.

Note

The Fullerton-Michigan game will be broadcast on KBPK (90.1 FM).