Titans Hit Their Way to Top

Cal State Fullerton, which has won 10 consecutive games and 24 of its last 25, moves into the final two weeks of the regular season as one of college baseball’s hottest teams.

The Titans (38-11, 11-1) have hit .362 as a team in the last 25 games, going from .265 with nine home runs in their first 24 games to batting .316 with 40 home runs after 49 games.

Fullerton, ranked No. 1 by Collegiate Baseball and No. 2 by Baseball America, has built a two-game lead over second-place UC Santa Barbara in the Big West Conference race with six conference games to play. The Titans host Santa Barbara (35-12, 9-3) for three games beginning Friday.

“We’re getting the hitting now to go with our pitching,” Titan Coach George Horton said.

Nearly every player in the lineup has improved his batting average since the Titans started the season with a 14-10 record.

Shortstop Mike Rouse has raised his team-leading batting average to .389 with six home runs after batting .295 with one homer in the first 24 games. Outfielder Chris Stringfellow has gone from batting .273 with no home runs to .377 with four homers.

Second baseman David Bacani has lifted his average from .286 to .335, outfielder Jason Corapci went from .284 to .350 and designated hitter Matt Belfanti from .188 to .350.

Outfielder Robert Guzman, batting .351, and catcher Brett Kay, batting .333, were above .300 in the first 24 games but have improved their averages.

“Guzman and Kay have been pretty consistent all year,” Horton said. “But we’ve been getting great balance throughout the lineup now. Stringfellow has really been hot in the last two weeks or so, and Bacani is starting to look like his old self again after being bothered by a virus for a while.”

Horton also is pleased with the Titans’ solid defense.

The pitching has gotten a boost from the return of senior Mike Nunez, who has bounced back after suffering tendinitis in his arm. He made his first appearance on April 17, pitching three scoreless innings against Loyola Marymount, and hasn’t given up a run in nine innings over five appearances.

Freshman closer Chad Cordero, 2-2 with a 1.76 earned-run average, picked up his 11th save last weekend against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, tying the Big West freshman record set in 1990 by Fresno State’s Bobby Jones, now with the San Diego Padres.

Titan ace Kirk Saarloos won his 12th consecutive game Sunday and starters Jon Smith (9-1) and Darric Merrell (6-2) also have been solid.

Fullerton, which plays a nonconference game at UCLA tonight at 6, can clinch at least share of the conference title with two victories against Santa Barbara. The Gauchos, ranked 25th by Baseball America and 23rd by Collegiate Baseball, have won 23 of their last 28 games.

Long Beach State, which plays a series at Fullerton the following weekend, trails the Titans by four games after losing two of three to Santa Barbara last weekend.

“Those last six conference games are going to mean a lot to us,” Horton said. “This has been a fabulous streak, but I’ve told our players that we really have to work hard to stay at this level.”

The Titans are bidding to host a regional and super-regional.

NOTEWORTHY

Three players from Vanguard and one from Concordia have been selected to the all-Golden State Athletic Conference softball team. Vanguard players selected were junior pitcher Gina Liebengood, sophomore outfielder Celina Camarillo and senior infielder Andrea Saucedo. Sophomore infielder Kori Przygocki of Concordia also was selected. . . . Cal State Fullerton first baseman Monica Lucatero was selected as Big West Conference softball player of the week. She was five for seven with one run and two runs batted in during Fullerton’s three-game sweep of Utah State. Lucatero is batting .324 with six homers and 40 RBIs.