Rouse Sees Titan Success

Cal State Fullerton shortstop Mike Rouse is at bat with runners on second and third and the Titans trailing by one run.

A darting fastball heads for the plate’s outside corner, and Rouse rips a liner to left field, driving in the tying and winning runs.

But Rouse isn’t facing a real-life pitcher glaring down at him. Instead, he’s alone in a batting cage, well after practice, with a device called a “Solo Hitter” that allows him to swing to his heart’s content.

“I do it a lot,” Rouse said of his imaging. “I create situations like that when I’m working on my hitting. I do the same thing sometimes when I’m fielding ground balls in practice. It helps me concentrate on what I need to do.”

But Rouse’s mind games are rarely played out at Fullerton’s Goodwin Field. Instead, they are usually set in Omaha, site of the College World Series.

“Playing in the World Series is the dream of every college player,” Rouse said. “That’s what you think about.”

This week, Rouse will finally get his chance to be swept away by brightly adorned Rosenblatt Stadium, barbecue sizzling nearby and Counting Crows’ “Omaha” blasting from a boombox.

Fullerton (46-16), the nation’s No. 1-seeded team, earned its 11th trip to the College World Series, and its second in three years, with a sweep of Mississippi State in a best-of-three super regional last weekend at Fullerton. The Titans will play Nebraska at 4 p.m. PDT Friday in a first-round game.

Rouse has played a major role in the Titans’ success, leading the team with a .395 batting average and 61 runs batted in.

But in all his imagined scenarios, Rouse said he never envisioned hitting three home runs in a game, something he accomplished in consecutive at-bats Friday in Fullerton’s 13-2 victory over Mississippi State. Two came in the same inning.

“I don’t go up there thinking about home runs,” said Rouse, who is second on the team with 12. “I’m a singles and doubles hitter, a guy who hits into the gaps and up the middle. When I came up for my third at-bat after the first two homers, I couldn’t believe the way [the crowd] was chanting my name. But even then, I didn’t think home run. I just thought about getting a hit.”

Rouse hit his fourth homer in two games the next night, when he was three for three with a walk. In two super-regional games he had seven hits in eight at-bats and eight RBIs. In six playoff games, Rouse batted .545.

“He had a tremendous weekend,” Titan Coach George Horton said. “He was a little off the previous weekend in the regional. He hit the ball hard then but just wasn’t rewarded with hits.”

Still, Rouse was five for 14 (.357) and scored six runs in four regional games against Temple, Arizona State and Texas Tech.

“I didn’t feel comfortable for some reason,” Rouse said, “so I stayed after practice and worked on my swing in the batting cage. I felt really comfortable last weekend.”

After each home run, Rouse extended his right index finger toward the sky as he stepped on home plate.

“I’ve done that after my homers all season,” he said. “It’s my way of letting people know I’m out there to glorify God, not myself. . . . It’s my way of saying thank you. You still have to work hard, but God gives you your talents.”

On April 8, Rouse broke through with a five-for-six performance, including two home runs, against Pacific. “I think that game was sort of a turning point for me,” said Rouse, who batted .295 in the Titans’ first 24 games.

Rick Vanderhook, a Titan assistant coach, said the shortstop appeared to be pushing himself too hard early in the season while he was still competing for the starting job. “But take away those first couple of weeks, and he’s been very consistent,” Vanderhook said.

Expectations had been building for Rouse since he transferred from San Jose State after batting .313 with 42 RBIs as a freshman in 1999.

Rouse was forced to sit out last season because San Jose State refused to release him so he could be eligible immediately under the NCAA’s one-time transfer rule.

Rouse, who grew up in San Jose, said he signed with the Spartans primarily so his parents, Mike and Polly, would be able to attend most of his games.

“But I never felt happy with my decision from the time I signed there,” Rouse said. “After the first practice, I came back home and told my dad that I thought I had made the wrong decision. He told me to stick it out for the season, and then, if I still wanted to transfer, I could.”

Rouse said he notified San Jose Coach Sam Piraro of his plans to transfer during the summer after his freshman year, while he was playing for a collegiate league team in Brainerd, Minn.

“If he had told me right after the season, I would still have tried to talk him out of leaving because he was the best player we signed in that recruiting class,” Piraro said. “But I might have considered giving him his release. It was never anything personal, but I thought it was a bad precedent to set. The timing was bad. By then, all the recruiting was over.”

Rouse said he has been happy at Fullerton, but whether he will remain with the Titans after this season or sign a pro contract is uncertain. He was selected in the fifth round Tuesday by Toronto.

“I want to play on the next level, but right now my priority is this team and trying to win a national championship,” Rouse said. “I’ll think about the rest later on.

“I’ve never been to Omaha before. I’ve seen the stadium a lot on TV. I remember how they would show teams getting off the bus in front of that statue of the baseball players there. I always thought about how awesome it would be to be on that bus.”

And this time he will be. No mind games. It will really be Omaha.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

College World Series

Opening games at Rosenblatt Stadium, Omaha, double elimination (complete schedule, D8):

FRIDAY

* Game 1--Stanford (48-16) vs. Tulane (55-11), noon

* Game 2--Cal State Fullerton (46-16) vs. Nebraska (50-14), 4 p.m., ESPN

SATURDAY

* Game 3--USC (44-17) vs. Georgia (47-20), 10:30 a.m., Ch. 2

* Game 4--Miami (49-12) vs. Tennessee (46-18), 4:30 p.m.