Titans Have Something to Prove

Cal State Fullerton is “disappointed and a little stunned” by being swept by top-ranked Stanford in its season-opening baseball series, Coach George Horton said.

But the fifth-ranked Titans are eager to try to make amends when they face 10th-ranked Baylor in a three-game series beginning at 7 tonight at Titan Field.

“We’re still confident that we have a good team,” second baseman David Bacani said. “We didn’t expect to lose all three games last weekend, so this will be an important series for us. We want to win all three at home.”

Jon Smith, a junior pitcher, agrees.

“Nobody doubts that we’re still going to be a good team,” Smith said. “The wins will come. We played a really tough team right at the beginning. We started last year 1-3 and still finished with a great record.”

The Titans won their opener against Stanford in 1999, but dropped the next two games in that series, then lost a one-run game at Pepperdine. After that, they won nine consecutive games and 26 of their next 28. Fullerton finished 50-14, winning a regional and super regional and advancing to the College World Series.

Baylor, however, will be another big challenge. The Bears (3-0) were 50-15 and won an NCAA regional but lost a super regional against Oklahoma State last season.

Two starting pitchers, right-hander Chad Hawkins and left-hander Josh Scott, return and each had more than 100 strikeouts last season. The other starter is right-hander Kyle Evans.

First baseman Chris Beck, the Titans’ top hitter last season with a .408 average, might have to sit out the series because of a sprained wrist. Beck was injured in practice last week. He played in the opening game of the Stanford series on Friday, but left the game Saturday after one at-bat and didn’t play Sunday.

Tests on Beck’s hand showed no fracture.

“You’ve got to be able to overcome one injury,” Horton said. “But any time you take your No. 3 hitter out of the lineup, it’s a big loss, even though the guy we brought in did a good job.”

Steve Woodward, a senior transfer from Texas, replaced Beck in right field and had two hits in five at-bats.

Horton said sophomore Brett Kay probably will move into the lineup at designated hitter. Kay, a reserve catcher who played at Mater Dei High, had two hits in two at-bats after replacing Matt Belfanti in Sunday’s game.

Horton said infielder Chad Olszanski has quit the team. Olszanski, a junior from Escondido, had been in a battle at shortstop with freshman Mike Martinez, who was in the starting lineup for all three games against Stanford. “It was all about playing time,” Horton said.

The pitching rotation will be the same as against Stanford. Adam Johnson will start tonight, with Smith on Saturday and Ronnie Corona on Sunday.

“We pitched well last weekend, but not well enough to win,” pitching coach Dave Serrano said. “The thing that hurt us the most was the walks we gave up.”

The Titans had 26 hits in the series compared to 21 for Stanford, but the Cardinal outscored Fullerton, 15-8, in the three games. Stanford’s Joe Borchard hit a three-run homer Friday and Edmund Muth had a two-run homer Sunday.

“In a lot of ways, that first series was a reality check for us, and we got kicked in the face,” Horton said. “But we’re not pushing the panic button. We believe in our guys.”