No Magic in Numbers for Titans

Cal State Fullerton has the respect that comes with being seeded No. 1 for the NCAA baseball playoffs, but Titan Coach George Horton says his team still has plenty to prove this weekend when its hosts a regional for the second consecutive year.

“We’ve definitely got our work cut out for us,” Horton said.

Horton rates Fullerton’s regional as one of the strongest among the 16, with three of its teams ranked among the nation’s top 25. Second-seeded Arizona State (36-18-1) is ranked 16th in one poll and third-seeded Texas Tech (40-18-1) is 22nd in two of them.

Arizona State and Texas Tech meet at 3 today. Fullerton (41-15) plays fourth-seeded Temple (27-29) at 7 tonight, with the first-round winners playing at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The championship of the double-elimination tournament will be decided Sunday.

“I think this regional is the best one, and I’m not basing that on us,” Texas Tech Coach Larry Hays said. “I’m basing it on the other people. It’s obvious what people think of Fullerton, and while we haven’t played Arizona State the last few years, we know what they’re capable of.”

Texas Tech might be the most dangerous No. 3-seeded team in the 64-team tournament.

The Red Raiders finished second in the Big 12 Conference behind Nebraska, which is seeded eighth nationally. Texas Tech won its regular-season series with the other three Texas teams in the Big 12, sweeping Texas A&M; and winning two of three from Texas and Baylor. Baylor, however, was given a No. 2 seeding in the Rice regional.

Texas Tech has a pitching staff with numbers that rival those of Fullerton’s. Brandon Roberson, who is scheduled to pitch the opener against the Sun Devils, is 13-3 with a 4.25 earned-run average and has won 10 consecutive games. Chris Phillips (11-5, 3.54) is the other top starter.

The Red Raiders, eliminated by Oklahoma in the third game of the Big 12 tournament, are led on offense by designated hitter Austin Cranford, batting .400. Nick Blankenship is batting .353 with 10 homers and 57 RBIs.

One of Texas Tech’s strengths is its speed on the bases. The Red Raiders have 112 stolen bases in 140 attempts.

“Tech is very good,” Horton said. “They’re predominantly a team of junior college transfers, which means they’re going to be very experienced. They won’t tip-toe in here, or be intimidated.”

Arizona State is equally dangerous. The Sun Devils finished in a tie for third with California in the Pacific 10 Conference behind USC and Stanford, both among the eight teams seeded nationally. The Sun Devils won seven of their last eight conference games, taking two of three games from UCLA to close the regular season.

All-American catcher Casey Myers leads the Sun Devils. He was selected as Pac-10 player of the year for the second consecutive year, becoming one of only three players to win the award twice. Myers is batting .386 with a team-leading 66 runs batted in. Outfielder Rod Allen is batting .385 with 45 RBIs.

The Sun Devil pitching rotation features right-hander Mike Esposito (5-2, 4.10 ERA), left-hander Jon Switzer (5-5, 3.75) and right-hander Eric Doble (3-2, 5.08), but Arizona State’s strength might be its bullpen. Andy Torres is 12-4 with a 4.16 ERA and Drew Friedberg is 4-1 with a 1.88 ERA. Esposito will start against Texas Tech.

The Titans split two games with the Sun Devils this season. They were scheduled to play a three-game series in February, but all but one of those games were rained out. Arizona State won that game, 5-3, when the Titans left 14 runners on base and made a season-high five errors. The teams played again in a midweek game in April with Fullerton winning, 13-6, but each team used second-line pitching.

“I don’t think either one of those games means much now,” Horton said. “We’re both different teams than we were then.”

Temple, which won the Atlantic 10 Conference title, is making its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1984.

The Owls, better known for their basketball program than baseball, are led by pitchers Greg Powell (7-7, 3.53) and Jeff Rugg (8-5, 5.95) along with infielder Kyle Sweppenhiser, batting .357 with seven homers and 45 RBIs. Powell, a right-hander, is scheduled to start against the Titans.

Fullerton has been inconsistent the last two weeks after winning 24 of 25 games.

The Titans regained some momentum by winning two of three games from Long Beach State, but it took a nine-run rally in the eighth inning to win on Sunday. Fullerton lost three of four games the previous week, including two of three against conference rival UC Santa Barbara. And none of Fullerton’s three starting pitchers was sharp last weekend. Even staff ace Kirk Saarloos (13-2, 2.26) gave up five runs on nine hits.

Horton, however, says he’s not overly concerned about his pitching. “It’s been a long haul for them , but we’ve lightened their work this week to bring some freshness back to their arms,” he said.