Fullerton: Surprise Matchup in Southern California
By Jason Owens - June 07, 2007
UCLA (33-26) at Cal State Fullerton (36-23)
The fact that there's an all Southern California affair in this weekend's Super Regionals is not a surprise. The fact that San Diego or Long Beach are not among those teams is. But that's the case as Cal State Fullerton pulled off the upset in San Diego's Regional round last weekend and is rewarded by hosting UCLA starting on Saturday.
Four-time NCAA Champion Fullerton is obviously no stranger to the Super Regionals, having been here the previous four years, but wasn't expected to make it this far this season. The Titans stumbled down the stretch to close the regular season 6-11 and weren't even a lock to make the NCAA field. They did earn a No. 2 seed and took advantage when top seed and No. 8 national seed San Diego lost its first two games last weekend. The Titans went 3-0, defeating Fresno State and Minnesota to advance to the next round.
The Titans aren't an exceptionally strong offensive squad, with just two regular starters hitting above .300 and nobody with double-digit home runs. Clark Hardman is head and shoulders above the rest with a .389 average, four home runs and 44 RBI. He'll need his teammates to heat up like they did last weekend for Fullerton to have a chance. Nick Mahin is the best power hitter with a team-best nine home runs and 45 RBI.
They'll also need strong play from starting pitcher Wes Roemer, who was Collegiate Baseball's Co-National Player of the Year in 2006. While he didn't have a bad season, his 10-6 record and 3.33 ERA didn't exactly merit him any more player of the year honors.
In all, the Titans are a capable, but underachieving team that turned it on in the Regional round. If they can stay hot, they can keep advancing.
UCLA reached the Super Regionals in similar fashion, beating out another favored Southern California team to advance past the regional round. The Bruins were the no. 2 seed at the Long Beach Regional. They advanced in three games as well, but unlike Fullerton, had to beat the top seed to advance to this weekend. They beat Pepperdine, Illinois-Chicago and No. 1 seed Long Beach State to advance.
The Bruins don't have nearly the history that the Titans do, having just won their second Regional since 1975. They started off with an 8-14 record before turning around the second half of the season to earn an NCAA bid.
They have some strong bats, with six players hitting better than .300 and a team average of .297. Allen Carrithers is their best hitter with a .351 average while Cody Decker is the power guy with a .314 average, 14 home runs and 57 RBI. They'll likely need those big bats this weekend with a hit and miss pitching staff that sports a 4.93 ERA. Tyson Brummett is their best starter with a 10-5 record and 3.57 ERA.
Head to head, the Titans have the long-run and short-run edge. Fullerton holds a 48-22-2 all time lead and won two out of three matchups this season. But with both teams catching fire at the right time, it looks like a series that could go three games.
Posted by Jason Owens at 10:04 PM on June 07, 2007
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