Well that was painful. I didn't get to watch most of the game. We got the USC-UNC game here in the Mid Atlantic region. I did try watching the first three inning of the Carolina game (which was eventually postponed due to rain and then the coverage moved on to Ole Miss-ASU game) just so I could keep track of the score. That wasn't fun. And by the time we came back from dinner, ESPN did switch over to our game with Bruins down 2-10 and Kevin Brophy on the mound.
It looks like the Titans overwhelemed the Bruins in all facets of the game and showed why they are the premierer baseball program in Southern California (at least at this snap shot of time) and one of the best in the country. Recap from the Daily News:
The Cal State Fullerton baseball team has a practice drill it calls "battle station." It is designed to improve the Titans' situational hitting and make them better two-out hitters.
Saturday's opening game of the NCAA Super Regional against UCLA turned into the ultimate execution of the drill. Cal State Fullerton scored five runs and had seven hits with two outs within the first two innings en route to a 12-2 victory over the Bruins in front of 3,394 at Goodwin Field.
UCLA ace Tyson Brummett, who has thrown seven complete games this season, was out of the game by the fifth inning in an outing that matched the senior right-hander's shortest start of the year.
"The two-out RBIs, those hurt pitchers a lot," Titans third baseman Evan McArthur said. "... We've been working a lot at practice as far as battling. We call it `battle station,' being able to battle pitchers, good pitching until we get something we can handle. We never gave in, we fouled off and gave ourselves a chance to handle something."
Fullerton (37-23) is a win away from advancing to the College World Series for the fourth time in five years, while UCLA (33-27) must earn its first-ever Super Regional victory tonight to extend the best-of-three series.
The Bruins and Brummett (10-6) had beat the Titans and ace Wes Roemer earlier this season, but this time Roemer (11-6) threw a complete game with seven strikeouts and no walks. It was the junior right-hander's third consecutive complete game, and he moved into second in program history in career strikeouts.
As expected the Trojan Times has a giddy recap of Bruins stumbling in their first game.Saturday's opening game of the NCAA Super Regional against UCLA turned into the ultimate execution of the drill. Cal State Fullerton scored five runs and had seven hits with two outs within the first two innings en route to a 12-2 victory over the Bruins in front of 3,394 at Goodwin Field.
UCLA ace Tyson Brummett, who has thrown seven complete games this season, was out of the game by the fifth inning in an outing that matched the senior right-hander's shortest start of the year.
"The two-out RBIs, those hurt pitchers a lot," Titans third baseman Evan McArthur said. "... We've been working a lot at practice as far as battling. We call it `battle station,' being able to battle pitchers, good pitching until we get something we can handle. We never gave in, we fouled off and gave ourselves a chance to handle something."
Fullerton (37-23) is a win away from advancing to the College World Series for the fourth time in five years, while UCLA (33-27) must earn its first-ever Super Regional victory tonight to extend the best-of-three series.
The Bruins and Brummett (10-6) had beat the Titans and ace Wes Roemer earlier this season, but this time Roemer (11-6) threw a complete game with seven strikeouts and no walks. It was the junior right-hander's third consecutive complete game, and he moved into second in program history in career strikeouts.
Obviously as the cliche goes Bruins are in a hole now. The next game is tonight (ESPN 2 - Nat'l broadcast). Freshman ;eft-hander Gavin Brooks (6-6, 4.67 ERA) is going to be on the mound for us going up against Titan right-hander Jeff Kaplan. Again a little refresher from Rye:
Saturday's game will see UCLA's Brooks face Fullerton's Jr. RHP Jeff Kaplan. If Brooks pitches anything like he has the past couple games then UCLA will be in great shape. Brook's last 2 starts have both been complete games in which he has given up a combined 5 hits. His strongest start of the season came with the most pressure he has faced last weekend in the regionals. In a key winner's bracket game, Brooks stared down the Illiois-Chicago Flames and blew them away, going all 9 innings, giving up only 1 unearned run and 2 hits while striking out 7 in a performance that landed him on the All-Regional team. If Brooks can have a similar performance this weekend then his offense will only need to push across a couple runs against Fullerton's tough righty Kaplan. Kaplan has been stellar for the Titans this season, giving them a good #2 starter. He has 11-3 record this season and 3.35 ERA courtesy of very good control and a breaking ball that falls off the table. The Bruins found out about that the hard way earlier this season when Kaplan allowed only 3 runs in 6 2/3 innings pitched, however that Bruin offense was missing their jumpstarter in So. 3B Jermaine Curtis who is now back in the lineup.
A speaking of Mr. Curtis, Bruins will need our spark plug to get it going today. He was pretty quiet yesterday as the Bruin offense couldn't get anything going against the Titan ace. There was a great profile of Curtis in the Daily Bulletin (his hometown paper (covering the Inland Empire)yesterday:
When then-10-year old Jermaine Curtis saw Troy Glaus slam a home run for the UCLA Bruins, he knew right away where he wanted to play college baseball.
"I loved watching those guys," Curtis said. "They were absolute beasts and after I went to my first game, I knew that I wanted to play at UCLA."
Curtis, an A.B. Miller of Fontana graduate, followed the Bruins from that point on.
Now a sophomore playing third base, Curtis has a chance to help guide the Bruins to a place they haven't been since Glaus was wearing Blue and gold, the College World Series. [...]
He was the spearhead of the Bruins' 3-0 run through the Long Beach regional, batting .500 (7 for 14) for the weekend with a home run and three RBI.
Curtis provided the big blow in UCLA's regional-clinching victory over Long Beach State on Sunday with a homer and two RBI, leading to him regional MVP honors.
I am sure Gavin can use some more big timely blows from Jermaine and his team-mates today. Let's hope the Bruins can get it going and rally this Sunday."I loved watching those guys," Curtis said. "They were absolute beasts and after I went to my first game, I knew that I wanted to play at UCLA."
Curtis, an A.B. Miller of Fontana graduate, followed the Bruins from that point on.
Now a sophomore playing third base, Curtis has a chance to help guide the Bruins to a place they haven't been since Glaus was wearing Blue and gold, the College World Series. [...]
He was the spearhead of the Bruins' 3-0 run through the Long Beach regional, batting .500 (7 for 14) for the weekend with a home run and three RBI.
Curtis provided the big blow in UCLA's regional-clinching victory over Long Beach State on Sunday with a homer and two RBI, leading to him regional MVP honors.
Again tonight's first pitch is scheduled for 7 pm PST. Its a national telecast on ESPN 2. We will put up a special Sunday Night baseball open thread before the game.
GO BRUINS.