Cal State Fullerton putting the pieces together

Good news for the Cal State Fullerton baseball team:

Just the other day, outfielder Gary Brown was able to use his left hand — when he sent X-rays of his broken finger to the San Francisco Giants by e-mail.

Meanwhile, Tyler Pill is back in the field — right field — though no closer to taking the mound again.

And Raymond Hernandez without a doubt has the freshest arm in college baseball — but only because he spent the regular season in the academic doghouse.

So it has gone for Titans baseball this season. Yet, here they are in June, two victories from another all-expenses-paid trip to Omaha for the College World Series.

“We didn’t feel last year’s team handled adversity well,” said Coach Dave Serrano, whose team starts a best-of-three Super Regional against UCLA Friday at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles. “One of the challenges I presented to this team at the start of the year was I hoped we faced the most adversity ever. Guess what? I got my wish.”

What did not defeat the Titans seems to have made them stronger. They have won 27 of their last 30 games.

“You stay as a family when tough times hit, you become a better family,” Serrano said.

Their family needs a good medical plan.

Brown, drafted 24th overall by the Giants in Major League Baseball’s annual draft, is the latest on the shelf. He has not played since breaking the middle finger on his left hand while stealing second base against Long Beach State on May 16.

“It’s supposed to be a six-week recovery, but I have been taking calcium pills and drinking lots of milk to help speed things up,” said Brown, who hopes to play this weekend.

Brown’s enthusiasm for the upside of things appears to run throughout the team. Shortstop Christian Colon, drafted fourth overall by Kansas City, missed the fall after suffering a broken leg.

Colon hobbled around the practice field on crutches, but what Brown saw was “the other end, where he stayed positive. He stayed with good body language and was happy for everyone else. No one wants to see you sulking around.”

The Titans (45-16) could have perfected the art of moping but chose not to.

Pill, one of the team’s starting pitchers, has not taken the mound since April 25 because of elbow troubles, though has been able to bat and did play in right field last weekend as Fullerton won a four-team regional on its home field.

Right-hander Noe Ramirez, another starting pitcher, missed three weeks because of a fractured left wrist. He has won six consecutive games since his return.

These things could have sunk the Titans, who had an 11-10 record after a loss to Loyola Marymount on March 23.

Serrano had them run — “a lot,” Colon said — after that loss.

“We had a lot of rules,” Brown said. “If you wore an earring, you would run. If you showed up late for practice twice in a week you got suspended for that weekend. Everyone was walking on eggshells.”

But then came a change. “Coach eased up and respected us to do things the right way,” Brown said. “Everyone exhaled.”

Fullerton went 32-5 after that.

“We became closer than any team I have ever been on,” Brown said.

That was apparent through Hernandez’s situation. He was ruled academically ineligible before the season and his return for the playoffs was left to a team vote.

It was unanimous in his favor — and it paid immediate dividends.

Hernandez retired nine of 11 batters in a key three-inning stretch against Minnesota in Monday’s regional final. The score was tied, 4-4, when he entered. Fullerton was leading, 8-4, when he left.

“I credit my teammates for allowing me to contribute,” Hernandez said. “They stuck by me all year.”

chris.foster@latimes.com

twitter.com/cfosterlatimes