Cal State Fullerton is ranked as high as No. 10 nationally thanks to winning 20 of its last 25 games. The first place Titans are 10-2 in the Big West, hosting a UC Riverside squad this weekend. The Highlanders are playing well too with wins in seven of their last eight games.
AROUND THE BIG WEST
Highlanders Take Their Shot
Cal State Fullerton has thwarted any and all comers in an attempt to wrestle away the top perch atop the baseball standings. The Titans have won all five conference series against UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly and Pacific in succession.
The Tigers, which entered last week’s play in third place, fell to fourth after losing two of three at home to the Titans. The third place replacement, UC Riverside, is now the latest contestant on the Capture First Place From Fullerton Show. The Highlanders take the short trek down the 91 Freeway to battle the No. 10-ranked Titans this weekend.
UC Riverside is playing exceptionally well right now. The Highlanders have won seven of their last eight games, including a 3-1 start on a current season-long eight-game roadtrip. UCR has won series against Cal Poly, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara. Its only series loss came to Pacific. The Highlanders have played three less league games than the Titans, and a strong showing at Goodwin Field would certainly thrust them into the limelight of the league race.
The main obstacle is in encountering a Fullerton team playing about as well as anyone in the country currently. The Titans have won 20 of their last 25 games after a 7-9 start to the season. They had a season-best nine-game winning streak snapped on Sunday in which they allowed a season-high in runs (18) to an opponent, but the offense has scored double-digit runs in six of the last 10 outings.
Second place UC Irvine, three and one-half games out of first, attempts to keep pace with CSF. The Anteaters have played well themselves lately as they travel to Cal Poly this weekend. Sunday's game between the Anteaters and Mustangs will be televised nationally on ESPNU. Pacific travels to UC Davis for a northern California showdown, and Cal State Northridge heads to UC Santa Barbara.
Long Beach State hosts No. 30 Stanford in a non-conference series this weekend as well.
Change Of Pace
Through the first 36 conference games that were played, 19 were decided by two runs or less and 10 by a single run. The last two weeks have taken on a decidedly different flavor. Only three of those 24 games have been decided by two runs or fewer.
Strike Zone Command
Big West pitchers are hitting the strike zone with regularity as five teams are now ranked in the national top 25 for fewest walks per nine innings. UC Irvine’s staff is again ranked No. 2 in the nation at 2.40 walks per nine innings. Cal State Fullerton is No. 8 (2.66), UC Riverside No. 19 (2.89) and UC Santa Barbara No. 24 (2.97). Long Beach State is the new entry this week, just percentage points behind UC Santa Barbara at No. 25 (2.97). Individually, three Big West hurlers place among the nation’s best in walks per nine innings. Dylan Floro, who made his first career start for Cal State Fullerton in Friday’s win at Pacific, is issuing a miniscule 0.44 walks per nine innings to rank No. 2 nationally. Floro has amazingly allowed just two walks in his 41.1 innings on the hill. UC Riverside Matt Andriese is No. 14 with a 1.23 mark and UC Irvine’s Christian Bergman ranks No. 22 (1.31). Bergman has allowed just one walk in his last 22.0 innings.
Bibona On Cusp Of K’s Record
UC Irvine senior hurler Daniel Bibona is about to break the school’s career record for strikeouts. The southpaw has 324 career strikeouts, and trails the current record holder by four. Scott Gorgen (2006-08) is the leader at 327. Bibona struck out 10 in seven innings in Friday’s win against Cal State Bakersfield. He moved to 8-2 on the season and also picked up his 30th career victory. He is just one victory shy of entering the Big West career top 10. The All-American is having another phenomenal year, leading the Big West in ERA (2.20), opponent batting average (.209), wins and strikeouts (94). Bibona is also just six strikeouts away from moving into the UCI single-season top 10 list.
Ramirez Hit Streak Rises
Cal State Fullerton sophomore Nick Ramirez is chasing the league lead for longest hit streak this season. UC Irvine’s Jeff Cusick owns that mark at 25 straight. Ramirez is now at 20 consecutive games with at least one hit after batting 8-for-19 in last week’s series against Pacific. During that 20-game span, Ramirez is hitting a sizzling .494 (40-for-81) to raise his batting average from .271 on March 26 to a season-best .380.
Tremlin Providing Quality
Cal State Northridge junior hurler Paul Tremlin tossed his first career complete game in an 11-1 win against UC Davis on Saturday. He yielded just six hits and the one run to improve to 6-5 on the season. Tremlin leads the club with the six wins. In his last three starts spanning 18 innings, Tremlin has surrendered just three earned runs for a 1.50 ERA.
Cal Poly Registers Series Victory
It took 11 weekends to accomplish, but Cal Poly took its first weekend series of the 2010 season when they won two out of three games against Long Beach State. The Mustangs won the rubber game in dramatic fashion, overcoming two deficits in extra innings to emerge 16-15 victors in 11 innings on Sunday. The Mustangs won 11 of 14 weekend series in 2009 en route to a 37-21 record and an NCAA postseason berth. The 16 runs that Cal Poly put up on the scoreboard Sunday was the most since a 12-5 win against Northern Illinois on March 10, a span of 27 games.
Three Above .400
The Big West features three players hitting above .400 going into the final month of regular season play. Cal State Fullerton’s Gary Brown leads the trio at .450. In fact, Brown’s current average is the second-highest in a single season in league history were the season to end today. Pacific’s J.B. Brown ranks second at a .423 clip, and Devin Lohman follows in third at .420. Five other players are chasing the .400 plateau as they currently rest at .375 or better. UC Riverside’s Justin Shults is the closest at .385.
UC Davis Picks Up Big Win
UC Davis knocked off Pac-10 opponent California for the second time this season, winning 6-5 against the No. 20 Golden Bears Wednesday. The Aggies also won 8-0 back on Feb. 24 when the Bears were unranked. UC Davis closed out the week with its third shutout victory of 2010 in a 16-0 blanking of Cal State Northridge. With 19 wins this season, the Aggies already have surpassed last year’s win total by six. UC Davis finished 13-42 in 2009.
College Baseball Foundation Names Six To Watch Lists
The College Baseball Foundation released the first watch lists for the Brooks Wallace Award and Pitcher of the Year, and the Big West was represented by six players. The Brooks Wallace Award, which recognizes the nation’s top shortstop, includes Cal State Fullerton junior Christian Colon, UC Santa Barbara senior Matt Valaika and Pacific senior Ben Gorang on the list of 54 players being considered by the CBF. On the 49-player Pitcher of the Year Watch List, UC Irvine seniors Danny Bibona and Eric Pettis join UC Santa Barbara junior Mario Hollands as Big West representatives.
Colon was one of two finalists for the 2009 Wallace Award that appeared on the initial 2010 list. The other player was Jedd Gyorko of West Virginia. Both awards will be presented on July 2 in Lubbock, Texas, as part of the College Baseball Awards Show.
Big West Vs. Top 25
Cal Poly 0-4
Cal State Fullerton 3-4
Cal State Northridge 2-1
Long Beach State 5-3
UC Davis 1-1
UC Irvine 0-2
UC Riverside 0-4
UC Santa Barbara 1-3
Pacific 1-2
Most Multi-Hit Games
Gary Brown, Cal State Fullerton 24
J.B. Brown, Pacific 24
Brian Martin, Pacific 24
Carlos Lopez, Cal State Fullerton 19
Mike Walker, Pacific 19
Most Multi-RBI Games
Nick Ramirez, Cal State Fullerton 14
Jeff Cusick, UC Irvine 11
Ryan Pineda, Cal State Northridge 11
Joey Terdoslavich, Long Beach State 11
Dominic D’Anna, Cal State Northridge 10
Brian Hernandez, UC Irvine 10
Tyler Pill, Cal State Fullerton 10
Steve Tinoco, Long Beach State 10
Justin Shults, UC Riverside 10
Longest Hitting Streaks
Jeff Cusick, UC Irvine 25
*Nick Ramirez, Cal State Fullerton 20
Brennan Metzger, Long Beach State 19
Dominic D’Anna, Cal State Northridge 18
Carlos Lopez, Cal State Fullerton 17
* Current streak
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