Fullerton Rides Hot Pitcher

Cal State Fullerton pitcher Jon Smith was rested and ready, and it showed.

Smith held a hard-hitting Texas Tech team to four hits in 7 2/3 innings, and the host Titans won their NCAA regional championship Sunday with a 9-2 victory.

“The key to the game was their pitcher,” Tech Coach Larry Hays said. “Pitching is the name of the game, and he had the biggest name out there.”

With its 11th regional championship and its first in two years as a host, Fullerton advances to one of 16 super-regional series and will face Mississippi State beginning Friday at a site that will be announced today.

Fullerton (44-16) has bid to host, and Coach George Horton thinks the Titans deserve that selection as the nation’s No. 1-seeded team.

Mississippi State (39-22), the Southeastern Conference tournament champion, won the Ohio State regional with a 14-4 victory over Kent State.

The Titans had to go one game more than they wanted before winning the title.

Third-seeded Tech (43-20-1) forced Fullerton to a second game after winning the first Sunday, 11-5, but the Titans came back strong behind Smith and a four-run sixth inning.

“I was proud of my team for the way they rebounded,” Horton said. “It shows a lot about their mental toughness to come back like that.”

Smith (10-2) hadn’t been sharp in his previous two starts, giving up eight hits and five runs last weekend against Long Beach State. UC Santa Barbara scored six runs on nine hits against him the previous week.

“Since I’ve been pitching on Fridays, the two days of extra rest really helped me,” Smith said. “My fastball had better life than it’s had lately. But I let my defense do the work behind me. I think I settled down after the second inning and did a better job of throwing first pitches for strikes.”

Smith had only one strikeout and walked three, but he retired 15 consecutive batters and 18 of 19 after giving up a run in the second.

“[Smith] pitched extremely well,” Hays said. “He didn’t make many mistakes and when he did their guy in center field [Chris Stringfellow] ran them down. I’m not sure the people here realized how good some of those catches he made were.”

The ground Stringfellow covered in the outfield didn’t come as any surprise to Smith. “Chris has done that for me all year,” Smith said.

The Titans also gave Smith good support on offense with freshman Shane Costa and senior Aaron Rifkin each getting three hits. Costa had three doubles, and Rifkin two.

Fullerton’s Shawn Norris was eight for 11 for the tournament and selected as the reginal’s most outstanding player.

In the first game Sunday, Matt Harbin (4-1) shut out the Titans through the first four innings and held on for the victory. Freshman Darric Merrell (6-4) took the loss.