Big West Title on Line for Fullerton

Cal State Fullerton Coach George Horton gives Long Beach State an “emotional advantage” heading into a key Big West Conference baseball series this weekend at Fullerton.

“That’s one of the bad things about the timing when the NCAA announces the hosts for the regionals,” Horton said. “Now we know we’re in the tournament [as one of 16 regional hosts], and they might still feel like they’re fighting for their lives.”

Regardless, there’s plenty at stake for both teams with the conference title and automatic NCAA bid still to be decided.

Fullerton (39-14, 12-3) has a one-game lead over UC Santa Barbara (38-13, 11-4), and Long Beach (34-19, 10-5) is two games behind heading into the final regular-season series.

Santa Barbara, which hosts fifth-place Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, has the tiebreaker advantage over Fullerton and Long Beach for the automatic bid should the Gauchos finish in a tie for the title.

Santa Barbara appears to be in line for at least an at-large berth, and Long Beach Coach Dave Snow said he thinks his team is also deserving. However, the 49ers were left out last season, when they finished 31-25 and tied for third in the conference.

“With the at-large bids, there’s politics involved, and a lot depends on what happens in the conference tournaments,” Snow said. “If some teams win those tournaments that wouldn’t be in a regional otherwise, it can make a difference. But we’ve played a tough schedule and I think that should help us.”

While the Titans were in a good position for an at-large berth before they were selected regional hosts, they also remain in the running to be one of the eight nationally seeded teams when pairings are announced Monday. Those teams are separated in the 64-team bracket and can’t meet before the College World Series. Fullerton’s ranking fell to No. 4 in Baseball America and No. 6 in Collegiate Baseball this week after losing two of three games to Santa Barbara.

“We don’t want to limp into the playoffs,” Horton said. “We want to win the [conference] championship, but the Fullerton-Long Beach series is always a tough one to predict. The teams are always so even that it’s the little things that sometimes make the difference. We know so much about them, and they know so much about us.”

The teams are 2-2 against each other this season heading into the series opener at 7 tonight.

Long Beach won, 13-11, in a tournament at Fullerton in February, then the Titans won two of three games in a nonconference series at Long Beach in March.

Since Snow took over at Long Beach in 1989, the 49ers lead the series, 30-28. Fullerton is 17-13 at Long Beach but 11-17 at home.

“It’s always a battle when we play,” Snow said. “I think Fullerton is better now than when we played them before, but we’re better now too.”

Fullerton’s pitching has been more impressive.

The Titans lead the conference with a 3.39 earned-run average to Long Beach’s 4.07.

Senior right-hander Kirk Saarloos (13-2, 2.03) has won 13 consecutive games and ranks among the national leaders in victories. The other two starters, senior Jon Smith (9-2, 3.26) and freshman Darric Merrell (6-2, 2.02), rank among the conference leaders in ERA. Freshman closer Chad Cordero leads the Big West with 12 saves and has a 1.92 ERA.

Long Beach’s starters have been less effective. Junior right-hander Nate Beucler (3-0, 3.45), who pitched at Huntington Beach High and Golden West College, has been the most consistent lately and is scheduled to start the opener against Smith. Matt Paz (7-7, 4.15) is set to face Merrell at 7 p.m. Saturday. Snow said he will counter Saarloos at 1 p.m. Sunday with either Joey Pace (5-2, 4.58) or Al Thielmann, who has made only one previous start and pitched 2 1/3 innings.

Long Beach’s strength is at the plate. Senior Jeff Jones, a Marina High graduate, leads the team with a .348 batting average, eight homers and 53 runs batted in.