Titans Blast Their Way to College World Series

Cal State Fullerton is back in the College World Series.

The question now is whether Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium can hold Aaron Rifkin and Mike Rouse.

Rifkin blasted three homers Saturday night, and Rouse hit his fourth homer in two games to lead the No. 1-seeded Titans to a 9-3 victory over Mississippi State and a two-game sweep of the best-of-three super-regional in front of 3,412 at Goodwin Field.

Rifkin’s three-run homer, his 15th of the season, in a four-run seventh inning buried the Bulldogs (39-24).

It will be the 11th trip to the College World Series for Fullerton (46-16), and second in three years under Coach George Horton.

But this year was different. For the first time, Fullerton didn’t have to win a playoff game on the road to reach Omaha and was able to celebrate at home. “That made it special,” Horton said.

Nobody was more ecstatic than Rifkin.

“When I hit that last homer, I got chills from the crowd by the time I got to first base,” said Rifkin, who was four for five with six runs batted in.

The Titans celebrated with the traditional dogpile at the mound and then ran to the outfield fence to touch a sign that said, “1,544 miles to Omaha.”

Fullerton will meet Nebraska in its opening game at the College World Series. The date and time have not been determined.

Nebraska, seeded No. 8 nationally when the playoffs began, swept Rice in its regional series.

The Titans got a solid pitching performance from freshman starter Darric Merrell (7-4), who gave up seven hits and three runs in 6 1/3 innings.

Mike Nunez struck out the two batters he faced in the seventh and closer Chad Cordero held the Bulldogs scoreless on two hits in the final two innings.

Merrell had struggled in his previous two outings. He gave up seven runs on five hits in 2 1/3 innings in a regional loss to Texas Tech after Long Beach State ripped him for seven runs on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings in his final start in the regular season.

Merrell got off to another bad start in the first inning against the Bulldogs, but managed to hang in for his first victory since May 5 against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

“I was nervous going into the game,” Merrell said. “I just took some deep breaths and tried to throw strikes.”

Merrell gave up consecutive one-out hits to Michael Brown and Phillip Willingham and walked Jason Burkley to load the bases in the first. Matthew Brinson hit into a double play, scoring Brown, and the Bulldogs picked up another run when Enrico Jones doubled.

But the Titans came back to cut the lead to 2-1 in the second on Rifkin’s leadoff home run.

Rifkin’s second homer gave the Titans a 3-2 lead in the third. His drive cleared the wall in left-center after Jason Corapci’s two-out walk.

Bulldog starter Paul Maholm (8-5) gave up a leadoff single to Rouse in the fourth, and Rouse reached second on a passed ball, but Maholm struck out the next three batters, and retired the Titans in order in the fifth.

Maholm also struck out Rifkin and Brett Kay, the first two batters in the sixth, but Rouse delivered a solo homer that boosted Fullerton’s lead. It was Rouse’s 12th of the season.

The Bulldogs came back for a run in their half of the sixth. Matthew Brinson tripled off the wall in center with one out and scored on Jones’ infield out, but the Titans came up big in the seventh.

David Bacani drove in one run after Lamoure singled, advanced on a bunt and stole third.

Then, with two out, Corapci walked after a disputed call in which umpires ruled that a two-strike foul tip hit Corapci’s foot before catcher Jason Burkley caught it. MSU Coach Pat McMahon heatedly protested when Corapci was allowed to return to the plate. After that, Rifkin ripped a three-run homer to right to make it 8-3.

“This all was awesome,” Titan second baseman David Bacani said. “I was just pleased to be a part of it.”

The Cal State Fullerton-Mississippi State super-regional created a matchup featuring some of the nation’s most highly rated freshmen.

Fullerton’s freshman recruiting class was rated the best in the nation by Collegiate Baseball and second best by Baseball America. MSU’s class was ranked third by Baseball America and fourth by Collegiate Baseball.

Freshman Paul Maholm was one of the Bulldogs’ top starting pitchers this season, and Darric Merrell was a weekend starter for the Titans. Titan freshman Chad Cordero has become one of the nation’s top closers.

Two freshmen, first baseman Matthew Brinson and third baseman Steve Gendron, are regulars on the Bulldog infield. Freshman Brent Lewis is one of MSU’s designated hitters.

Freshman outfielder Shane Costa is a part-time starter for the Titans.

Mississippi State Coach Pat McMahon will coach Team USA this summer, and he will have Merrell and Cordero, as well as Maholm, in his tryout camp June 16-19 in Tucson, Ariz.

Fullerton and Mississippi State had met three other times in NCAA playoff games before their super-regional this weekend.

The Bulldogs defeated Fullerton, 6-1, in the opening game of the 1979 College World Series, but the Titans came back to win the national championship. The teams played twice in the 1988 regional tournament in Starkville, Miss., and Fullerton won both games, 5-1 and 5-3, and advanced.