Titans, 49ers Suddenly Have Company in Big West Race

Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State are feeling some heat in the Big West Conference baseball race.

“It’s turned into a dogfight,” said Coach George Horton, whose Fullerton team won two of three games at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo last weekend.

But before that, the Titans had lost two of three games in consecutive series at home against Sacramento State and Long Beach.

UC Santa Barbara, fresh off a three-game sweep of Long Beach last weekend, begins a three-game series at Fullerton at 7 tonight.

The Gauchos’ first sweep of Long Beach since 1988 underlines the balance in the conference this season.

“What’s happening in our conference is typical of the way things are on the West Coast this season,” Long Beach Coach Dave Snow said. “There’s a lot of parity.”

Fullerton (25-14, 13-5), the preseason favorite in the Big West, holds a 1 1/2-game lead over Long Beach (25-17, 13-8). Santa Barbara (21-19, 11-7) and Nevada (27-15, 11-7) are only two games behind, and Sacramento State (17-24, 10-8) is three games back.

Snow said the remaining four weeks of the regular season should be interesting with teams trying to strengthen their chances for at-large bids to the NCAA playoffs. Only the conference champion receives an automatic playoff berth.

While the Titans and UCSB tangle, Long Beach plays a nonconference series at perennial power Miami.

Horton said the key for Fullerton will be its pitching.

Matt Sorensen (5-0), who has struggled recently and was replaced in the rotation by George Carralejo last weekend, developed tightness in the elbow of his throwing arm while pitching in relief last week. Sorensen, who will undergo an MRI exam today, will be sidelined this weekend and possibly longer.

Starter Jon Smith (6-2) had to leave Saturday’s game because of a groin injury after facing one batter in the fourth inning. The injury apparently was not serious; Smith is expected to start Saturday’s 7 p.m. game.

Adam Johnson (4-2) has continued to pitch well but hasn’t received much run support. He has given up seven runs in 24 innings in his last three starts, striking out 38 and walking only five. The Titans scored only seven runs and lost all three games.

Fullerton’s lack of production has made it difficult for Horton to settle on a lineup.

Snow said inconsistency is also troubling the 49ers, who have lost six of their last eight games.

“We’ve been up and down a lot,” Snow said. “It seems like our players get easily frustrated. We don’t have a lot of people having the kind of year they thought they were going to have.”

OFFENSE IS DOWN

The NCAA’s midseason statistical report indicates offense has continued to decline.

Batting averages, earned-run averages and home runs for the nation’s Division I teams are down compared to the same time last season.

A year ago at midseason, teams were hitting .301; this year, the average has dropped to .294. Staff ERAs are down from 5.94 to 5.49, and teams are averaging only 0.77 home runs per game compared to 0.93 in 1999.

The number of runs per team per game has dropped from 7.03 to 6.61.

In 1998, teams averaged record highs in home runs (1.06) and runs (7.12).

The NCAA changed aluminum-bat specifications before the 1999 season, then set up testing procedures in the off-season requiring exit speeds of less than 97 mph. The changes were made to reduce offense and for safety reasons.

“I think the bats are a notch down again this season,” Horton said. “It’s a subtle difference, but I think it’s there. Most of the home runs this season seem to be more legitimate than some in the past.”

GARRIDO’S ON THE MOVE

Texas Coach Augie Garrido has moved into third place on the all-time Division I victory list with 1,273.

The former Cal State Fullerton coach ranks behind a couple of retired coaches: Cliff Gustafson of Texas (1,427) and Rod Dedeaux of USC (1,332). Garrido moved past former Miami coach Ron Fraser last weekend.

Earlier this season, Garrido moved ahead of Chuck Hartman of Virginia Tech into the No. 1 spot for victories among active coaches.

Garrido has his best Longhorn team in four years. Texas (35-11) is battling Baylor for the Big 12 Conference title. Baylor won two of three games last weekend in Austin to take a one-game lead in the race.

TOUCHING THE BASES

LSU’s Brad Cresse, who led the Southeastern Conference in home runs with 29 as a sophomore, struggled last season because of a broken bone in his right hand. This season, he has hit 22 homers and driven in 80 runs in 45 games.

Cresse, who played at Marina High, is batting .441. He batted .302 last season with 10 homers.

USC’s Rik Currier, who played at Capistrano Valley High, continued his strong pitching last weekend. Currier improved to 10-2 with his victory over Stanford in the opener of a three-game series. Currier gave up five hits and three runs in 6 2/3 innings in the Trojans’ 7-3 victory. He has a 3.76 ERA.

Cal State Fullerton is ranked 17th by Collegiate Baseball and 21st by Baseball America this week. Collegiate Baseball ranks Loyola Marymount 14th, Long Beach State 21st and USC 23rd. Baseball America has Loyola Marymount 22nd.

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