With This Trio, Titans Are Flush With Aces

They are a trio who, to a college baseball opponent, are as fearsome as any perils of the desert.

As the saying goes, if the heat doesn’t get you, the sandstorms or the rattlesnakes will.

Consider the way Cal State Fullerton starting pitchers Lauren Gagnier, Wes Roemer and Dustin Miller overwhelmed batters last weekend as the Titans rolled to a three-game sweep in their NCAA baseball regional.

Gagnier, whose name is pronounced the same as that of the Dodgers’ closer, looked like a healthy Eric Gagne during Fullerton’s 6-1 victory over St. Louis in the opener Friday, striking out a career-high 10 in seven shutout innings.

Roemer, the staff ace whose turn in the rotation was pushed back in anticipation of a tougher second-day opponent, went eight innings during a 9-2 triumph over Fresno State on Saturday.

And Miller helped clinch the Titans’ fourth consecutive appearance in a super-regional -- but the injury-plagued senior’s first since his freshman year in 2003 -- by pitching six solid innings Sunday during a 10-3 romp over Fresno State.

The starters, all right-handers, consider themselves interchangeable parts after becoming the first trio in school history to each notch at least 10 victories during the regular season. Collectively, they are 37-6 with a 2.44 earned-run average and have limited opponents to a .214 batting average.

“I think if you asked any of us it wouldn’t matter what day we threw,” said Gagnier, a junior who is 13-4 with a 2.51 ERA. “You could flip-flop the rotation and throw me on Sunday, Dustin on Friday and Wes on Saturday and it wouldn’t change a thing.”

Returning to his more traditional rotation, Titans Coach George Horton will go with Roemer (12-1, 2.02 ERA) at 7 tonight when Fullerton (46-13) opens a best-of-three super-regional against visiting Missouri (35-26), no doubt touching off more good-natured ribbing among teammates who strive to outdo one another.

“We kind of joke around with each other,” said Miller, a fifth-year player who is 12-1 with a 2.95 ERA. “Lauren will be like, ‘I’m 13-4, I have more wins than you guys,’ and I’m like, ‘Well, you have more losses than Wes and me combined.’ ”

Pitching coach Ted Silva, himself a former Titans standout, joined the fray by teasing his starters that they would be unable to match his school-record 18 victories from 1995, even if Fullerton goes on to win its fifth College World Series title. The winner of the super-regional makes the national championship tournament of eight, with play starting next week in Omaha.

Silva has devised a metaphor for each of the starters, calling Gagnier a “bulldog,” Miller a “silent assassin” and Roemer a “gunslinger.” Roemer, a staple in the rotation since replacing the injured Ryan Schreppel early last season, likes to sling words as well as 93-mph fastballs.

“I don’t see any of us losing for the rest of the year,” said Roemer, a sophomore who was selected national co-player of the year by Collegiate Baseball. “I don’t think there’s three guys out there that can hang with our staff.”

Bravado has been a big part of the animated pitcher’s success. He often bounces off the mound in anticipation of a strikeout, even before the umpire has rendered final judgment. For example, three times Roemer bounded off the mound Saturday after delivering borderline pitches. Twice, he got the call.

“Sometimes you just feel like you’ve struck the guy out before the umpire’s called it,” said Roemer, who, with 125 strikeouts in 133 2/3 innings, has plenty of experience. “I’m not out there trying to show anybody up, it’s just that I get so excited when I make a huge pitch that I want to get back in the dugout and pump the rest of the team up.”

Unlike Roemer and Gagnier, who initially moved into the rotation because of teammates’ injuries or ineffectiveness, Miller started every game he pitched his first year and earned freshman All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball.

But Miller sat out the 2004 and 2005 seasons because of arm and shoulder injuries and had to regain his spot in the rotation early this year after opening the season in the bullpen.

“This is what I’ve worked for the last 2 1/2 years, to at least get my slot back and be a really big part of the staff,” said Miller, who has endured three surgeries since enrolling at Fullerton in the fall of 2001. “I’m 12-1 and starting to look a little better than my freshman year.”

Gagnier, a former middle reliever and spot starter, has become a mainstay in the rotation for the first time. Taking a page from Roemer’s pitching manual, Gagnier said success was in part a function of self-belief.

“It’s all about confidence,” Gagnier said. “You can call it cocky or whatever you want to call it, but I think it’s mandatory to have some of it in you to be successful.”

But the most confident man in the ballpark when a Fullerton starter is on the mound might be Silva, the pitching coach.

“I don’t see why any one of these guys couldn’t pitch for any team and be that front-of-the-rotation guy,” Silva said. “We are lucky to have all three of them.”

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Right makes might

Wes Roemer, Lauren Gagnier and Dustin Miller, all right-handers, accomplished an unprecedented triple for the Cal State Fullerton baseball team. Each won at least 10 games during the regular season. A look at their seasons (through last week’s regional):

*--* PITCHER W-L ERA K BB IP OPP. BA Roemer 12-1 2.02 125 6 133 2/3 200 Gagnier 13-4 2.51 92 22 114 2/3 213 Miller 12-1 2.95 48 22 91 2/3 238 Totals: 37-6 2.44 265 50 340 214

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Source: Cal State Fullerton