NCAA Regionals: A look at the Cal State Fullerton Titans

Cal State Fullerton’s Goodwin Field, home of the Fullerton Regionals

Let’s take a look at Illinois’ first opponent in the NCAA Regionals, the Cal State Fullerton Titans.

First, some background info.  Cal State Fullerton (40-15) is the host and #1 seed in the Fullerton Regionals.  That means we’ll see Illinois playing at Goodwin Field this weekend.  Unlike Big Ten universities, Cal State Fullerton’s ballpark houses almost as many fans (3,500) as their basketball stadium and they don’t even have a NCAA football team anymore (their last season was 1992).

Cal State Fullerton won the Big West pretty handily with a 19-5 record (2 1/2 games over UC Irvine) getting them the automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals.  Illinois has played Cal State Fullerton four times in the past and managed to win once.  Have heart, though.  The last time these two teams met was in 1992 so it’s ancient history.

How you can follow the game

Your options are open. You can watch it on television on ESPNU.  It will also be live streamed on the web at ESPN3.  Also, Fightingillini.com will be streaming the audio and will providing live stats via Gametracker.

A quick look at the Titans:

Tyler Pill is the scheduled starter for Cal State. For the season, he’s 6-1 with a 2.08 ERA.  He can bring it with 99 strikeouts in 90+ innings.  More impressive, he exhibits control you don’t always see with a strikeout pitcher (only 19 walks).  Pill can bat too if they choose to do so.  He hit .324 for the year.

Speaking of dual roles, keep an eye out for firstbaseman Nick Ramirez.  He led the Titans with 9 homers and 45 rbis.  Not only that, Ramirez can come in as a closer.  He appeared in 21 games and has a 1.12 ERA with 16 saves.

There’s no doubt, the Titans get the job done with their pitching.  Their team ERA of 2.85 is quite impressive and a good reason that the team outscored their opponents 304 to 210.

Random Ramblings

Seen on Twitter: the last time the Illini baseball team went on a 16-4 run was in 1947.

If you’re watching the Stanford-Kansas State game, keep this in mind.  Historically, Illinois is 3-1 against them and has won the last two times these two times teams have met.

Finally, I noticed that the fightingillini.com store has Big Ten Conference Champions t-shirts, caps and other souvenirs for sale.  I’ll tell my wife so she can put it on my gift list.  Woo-hoo!!

via Twitter, I heard that the boys have arrived in California.  Enjoy your time out there, guys but keep your eyes on the prize!!