Titans Open With a Victory

Before it could officially turn the page, Cal State Fullerton pulled out all the stops to give a final salute to a College World Series championship team in its season opener Friday night against Stanford.

There were speeches and fireworks. There was a banner unveiled behind the fence to signify the triumph. And there was the return of four of the title team’s key performers -- Kurt Suzuki, Jason Windsor, P.J. Pilittere and Mike Martinez -- who were treated to a standing ovation by the record Goodwin Field crowd of 3,611.

Perhaps eager to give the large crowd something else to cheer, the Titans were shaky in the early innings before scoring three runs in the sixth to pull out a 5-3 victory.

“We scrimmaged against each other for so long that we were dying to play somebody,” Fullerton Coach George Horton said.

Fullerton, the No. 3-ranked team in Baseball America’s preseason poll, overcame three errors and a somewhat erratic outing by starter Ricky Romero by getting a tiebreaking two-run single from Justin Turner and stellar relief work by freshman Adam Jorgenson.

Jorgenson, in particular, was impressive. At 5 feet 11 and 150 pounds, the right-hander from Westminster La Quinta High held the sixth-ranked Cardinal (3-1) hitless over the final three innings and struck out four.

The key inning was the eighth. Stanford’s Chris Minaker led off with a walk to bring up All-American second baseman Jed Lowrie as the potential tying run. But Jorgenson struck out Lowrie, John Mayberry Jr. and John Hester in succession.

“I was very proud of Jorgenson,” Horton said. “A freshman there coming in a tough spot and making some tough 3-2 pitches shows you something about him.”

Facing a 3-2 deficit in the sixth, Fullerton got three runs with two out. John Curtis drew a key walk off Stanford starter Mark Romanczuk to load the bases.

Reliever Matt Leva then hit pinch-hitter Blake Davis with his first pitch to force in the tying run. Turner, a junior three-year starter at second base, followed with a line drive up the middle to score Neil Walton and Curtis.

Despite three walks, a balk and a wild pitch, Romero gave up only two earned runs and three hits in six innings while striking out seven.

More important, the junior left-hander showed he could be a worthy successor to the graduated Windsor, the outstanding player of the College World Series.

“The good news is Ricky got the win and I think he deserved the win,” Horton said.