Even Isn’t Necessarily Better for Fullerton

Cal State Fullerton’s baseball team could feel good about itself Sunday after avoiding a three-game sweep with a 9-3 victory over seventh-ranked Long Beach State. Whether the Titans can transfer that into Big West Conference play next weekend is another story.

It has been an uncharacteristic season for the Titans. One of college baseball’s top programs, Fullerton (16-16) evened its record after a three-game losing streak but hasn’t been more than two games above .500 at any point.

For a school that has never had a losing season and has made the NCAA playoffs in 12 consecutive years, the struggles in nonconference play have been perplexing.

“We’ve had a sense of urgency for a long time,” Coach George Horton said. “The good news is I don’t have to motivate these guys to get them ready. If being 16-16 doesn’t make you ready and hungry for every game being important, then something’s wrong with us.”

Said junior catcher Kurt Suzuki: “We’re going to play and compete every game, because otherwise it may hurt us in the long run. Coming into the season, we had high expectations and we obviously haven’t been playing to our potential.”

After scoring a total of three runs in consecutive losses to the visiting 49ers, the Titans banged out 12 hits against six Long Beach pitchers in front of 2,585 at Goodwin Field.

Four players had two hits apiece. Suzuki had two singles and drove in two runs, and Felipe Garcia homered and singled.

Garcia ignited the onslaught with a solo homer in the second off Jason Vargas, his teammate with state champion Cypress College last season.

“I know how he pitches,” Garcia said with a smile.

Despite a scare after getting hit on his glove hand with a line drive, Ricky Romero pitched seven strong innings to improve to 5-3 for the year. Romero, a sophomore left-hander, gave up three earned runs and struck out nine over seven innings.

Fullerton will have to get healthy fast for what could be the best Big West race in years. Normally it’s a two-team race between the Titans and 49ers, but a number of other teams are contenders for the league title.

UC Irvine (19-6-1) is ranked No. 17 in the nation. UC Riverside (19-13) made the postseason last year, and the Highlanders have bounced back from a 1-7 start. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (27-12-1) and UC Santa Barbara (20-10) are improved.

Irvine swept Long Beach (20-8) in a two-game series last week that didn’t count in the league standings.

“We’re excited,” Anteater Coach John Savage said. “I’d have to think Long Beach is the front-runner. They’re going to be tough to beat with [Jered] Weaver, Vargas and [Cesar] Ramos. We had a nice weekend. [But] all it showed was that we played well in two games.”

Long Beach Coach Mike Weathers warns that Fullerton shouldn’t be counted out. The Titans have five starters back from last year’s College World Series team, but injuries and inconsistency within the pitching staff have contributed to their subpar start.

“You’re dealing with some guys that have been through a lot of stuff over there,” Weathers said. “That’s a better team than [its] record.”

The 49ers’ deep pitching staff with the indomitable Weaver as its anchor may loom large in conference play. Its earned-run average was 1.90 before Sunday.

“A lot of teams don’t hit against them,” Horton said. “They’ve been very good. Their pitching makes it difficult to sustain anything against them.”