Fullerton Prepares for Daunting Task

By GARY KLEIN

June 8, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

OMAHA —

Cal State Fullerton has played and thrived in some of college baseball’s most hostile environments during 23 postseason appearances.

The Titans traveled to regionals at Baton Rouge, La.; Tempe, Ariz.; Stillwater, Okla., and Starkville, Miss., on their way to four of their 11 World Series appearances.

But nothing the Titans have encountered is likely to compare to the atmosphere today at the College World Series when top-seeded Fullerton (46-16) plays No. 8 Nebraska (50-14) at sold-out Rosenblatt Stadium at 4 p.m. PDT. Stanford (48-16), seeded fourth, plays No. 5 Tulane (55-11) in the series opener at noon in a game that President Bush is planning to attend.

Bush won Nebraska during the presidential election, but his approval rating ranks far below that of Nebraska’s baseball team in the hearts of the Husker Nation. Nebraska is in the World Series for the first time in the history of an event that has been staged in Omaha since 1950 and most predict a crowd similar to a Saturday afternoon football game in Lincoln.

Fullerton Coach George Horton expects nothing less.

“We’re most concerned about the communication aspect on the field if Nebraska does something offensively that gets the crowd going,” Horton said. “We have a system of nonverbal signs in place, but you don’t know how some kids are going to react when they are in uncomfortable situations.”

Fullerton, seeded first nationally at the start of the 64-team playoffs, looked perfectly at ease last weekend in a best-of-three super regional at Goodwin Field when the Titans powered through Mississippi State in two games.

Horton said senior left-hander Jon Smith (10-2, 3.48) will start today for the Titans, leaving ace Kirk Saarloos (15-2, 2.24), who is also the Titans’ closer, or freshman Darric Merrell (7-4, 3.17) to start Sunday against either Stanford or Tulane.

Nebraska not only made it to the World Series but did it dramatically. The Cornhuskers, champions of the Big 12 Conference, won a super regional at home by defeating Rice, 9-6, in 10 innings.

Nebraska will start junior right-hander Shane Komine (14-1, 3.27) against the Titans. Komine has 148 strikeouts in 123 2/3 innings. Dan Johnson is batting .350 with a school-record 24 home runs and 85 RBIs. Matt Hopper has 11 homers and 84 RBIs.

“With all that will be going on here with the crowd and the fact that it’s the World Series, all you ever worry about is that the team represents itself the way it has all year,” Horton said. “If we can do that and just be in character, we should be fine.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

College World Series Glance

DOUBLE ELIMINATION

TODAY

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

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

SATURDAY

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

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

SUNDAY

* Game 5--Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, Noon

* Game 6--Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 4 p.m.