After suffering from a four-game losing streak, this week’s Thursday Thoughts – Jacksonville & Ohio State column leads off with the fact that the Dolphins were just what the doctor ordered. Sweeping the three-game series with a run differential of 40-7, the Titans got back to .500 with a 7-7 record.
Keep in mind, Jacksonville coming to Goodwin Field was originally not supposed to happen. You may recall that Saint Mary’s was originally supposed to come to Fullerton this past weekend. Due to miscommunication, Saint Mary’s thought they were coming to Fullerton this weekend while the Titans thought they would come this past weekend. The Titans open Big West Conference play tomorrow vs. UC San Diego, so something had to give.
Saint Mary’s chose to travel to Gainesville to play the University of Florida this past weekend, leaving Fullerton without a dance partner. Luckily, Jacksonville had an opening and hence the Dolphins came to Fullerton for a three-game series.
That’s the good. Unfortunately, the Titans could not take advantage of a road weary Ohio State Buckeyes team on Wednesday and now sit below .500 heading into Big West Conference play. Adding to that, the ugly also came out of the Ohio State mid-week game and we will cover that later.
Join us as we yet again look at the Good, the Bad and the Ugly that was the Jacksonville series and Ohio State mid-week game.
The Results
Overall Record: 7-8
Conference Record: 0-0
Streak:Lost 1
Last 10: 4-6
Offense
Runs Scored: 92
Hits: 124
Doubles: 29
Triples: 3
Home Runs: 9
RBI: 82
Team Batting Avg: .257
On-Base %: .370
Slugging %: .386
Walks: 71
Extra base hits: 41
Total bases: 186
Hit by pitch: 19
Stolen Bases: 10
Strikeouts: 151
Defense
Errors: 15
Fielding %: .972
Double Plays turned: 13
Passed Balls: 1
Stolen Bases allowed: 28
Pitching
Team ERA: 4.41
WHIP: 1.52
Batting average against: .274
Hits allowed: 138
Total Runs Allowed: 72
Walks Issued: 61
Strikeouts: 133
Home runs allowed: 8
Polls and RPI Tracker
Polls
D1Baseball: Not Ranked
Baseball America: Not Ranked
NCBWA: Not Ranked
College Baseball Nation: Not Ranked
USA Today Coaches Poll: Not Ranked
11.7 Mid-Major Power Rankings: Not Ranked
RPI
NCAA: 129
Warren Nolan: 130
D1Baseball.com: No Ranking
Titans of the Week
Winners chosen via Twitter/X poll. Stats do not include Ohio State game as voting was underway on Wednesday and closed on Thursday.
Pitcher of the Week
Mikiah Negrete : 6IP – 3H – 1ER – 4BB – 6K – 1.50 ERA – 1W
Also considered:
Jason Blood: 4.2IP – 2H – 0ER – 1BB – 4K – 0.00 ERA – 1W
Peyton Jones: 1.2IP – 1H – 0ER – 0BB – 3K – 0.00 ERA
Christian Rodriguez: 5.1IP – 5H – 2ER – 1BB – 11K – 3.36 ERA – 1W
Vote on the #CalStateOmaha Pitcher of the week:@jtblood13: 4.2IP – 2H – 0ER – 1BB – 4K – 0.00 ERA – 1W@peytonjonesy: 1.2IP – 1H – 0ER – 0BB – 3K – 0.00 ERA@NegreteMikiah: 6IP – 3H – 1ER – 4BB – 6K – 1.50 ERA – 1W@Christian_Rod00: 5.1IP – 5H – 2ER – 1BB – 11K – 3.36 ERA – 1W
— Cal State Omaha (@CalStateOmaha) March 13, 2024
Batter of the Week
Maddox Latta: 4-for-7 – .570 – 5R – 9RBI – 4BB – 0K – 1HR – 2XBH
Also considered:
Cameron Burdick: 4-for-8 – .500 – 6R – 3RBI – 4BB – 2K – 1HR – 2XBH
Eli Lopez: 8-for-12 – .670 – 6R – 3RBI – 3BB – 1K – 2XBH
Marcos Rosales: 5-for-10 – .500 – 2R – 2RBI – 1BB – 2K – 1XBH
Vote on the #CalStateOmaha Batter of the Week:@burrrdy: 4/8 – .500 – 6R – 3RBI – 4BB – 2K – 1HR – 2XBH@LattaMaddox: 4/7 – .570 – 5R – 9RBI – 4BB – 0K – 1HR – 2XBH@elixeli7: 8/12 – .670 – 6R – 3RBI – 3BB – 1K – 2XBH
Marcos Rosales: 5/10 – .500 – 2R – 2RBI – 1BB – 2K – 1XBH— Cal State Omaha (@CalStateOmaha) March 13, 2024
The Good
Sweep & Run Rule Double Header
We alluded to it in the open but hosting Jacksonville this past weekend may have helped the team morale after dropping four consecutive in the Keith LeClair Classic and the mid-week game vs. USC. The Titans won on Friday and the proceeded to win both double header games on Saturday.
Add to that, by mutual agreement by the coaches, Jacksonville invoked the run-rule both games on Saturday after completion of seven innings.
Maddox Latta on his 9 RBI in two games today.#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/7ieS2fN67S
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) March 10, 2024
Whole Latta RBI
Maddox Latta had himself a day on Saturday recording nine runs batted in during the double header vs. Jacksonville. One can only imagine, had the games not been shortened to seven innings, how many more RBI Latta might have driven in.
Saturday’s first game had Jason Dietrich not made wholesale changes to the line-up heading into the bottom of the seventh. Cam Burdick was set to lead off with Latta behind him. In the second game, had the line-up remained the same, Colby Wallace was set to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning with Latta batting second behind him.
Could Latta have had a double digit RBI day? We’ll never know but with Burdick and Wallace batting in front of him those games, the thought of it is not beyond the realm of probability.
Glad to have you in a Titan uniform, @jaredsnyy! #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/F8DhPEazHF
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) March 9, 2024
Off the Schnyder
Entering the Jacksonville series, Catcher Jared Snyder was nowhere to be seen in the Titan line-up. Max Ortega received the lion’s share of the innings behind the plate with Waldie Perez getting some spot duty. Was the Long Beach State refugee Snyder hurt or just bidding his time to get some playing time?
Snyder started the first game of the Jacksonville double header and made his presence known in a big way with a 2-RBI home run in the third inning.
Snyder got the start again on Wednesday vs. Ohio State and offensively went 1-for-1 with an RBI. Unfortunately, Max Ortega replaced Snyder in the bottom of the third and remained in the game behind the plate for the rest of the way. This move was probably inspired by a passed ball allowed by Snyder in the top of the third inning which allowed a run to score and the Buckeyes shortened the Titans lead to 8-6.
If Snyder can shore up his defense to compliment his small sample size of excellent offense, the catcher spot may not be as secure as we may think.
Eli gettin’ it done#TusksUp | @elixeli7 pic.twitter.com/OTyN0eJ0tS
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) March 9, 2024
Bats Woke Up over the Weekend
Despite not playing the eighth and ninth innings in both games on Saturday, the Titan batters made the most of their opportunities at the plate.
Over the course of the three days vs. Jacksonville, the Titans went 35-for-91 for a .385 batting average. In addition to the hits and runs, the Titans slugged three home runs which included nine extra base hits.
The Titans feasted on Dolphin pitching all weekend which was desperately needed to end the four-game losing streak.
Streaker Tracker
We’re 15 games into the season which gives us a large enough sample size to see if we have any streaks going. Let’s check in on the streaks currently underway:
- Marcos Rosales currently enjoys an eight-game hitting streak, the longest of the team and for the year. The Freshman from South Hills High School has firmly planted himself in the line-up primarily as a designated Hitter due to an arm injury.
- Seth Tomczak in the closer role has only seen 8.1 innings of work but has put up a streak of zeroes in those appearances. Tomczak in a five-game streak has allowed no earned runs and no runs altogether along with not giving up a home run all season. He also has failed to hit a batter this year along with recording at least one strikeout in every game he has appeared.
The Bad
Ohio State Wednesday
Ohio State came into Goodwin reeling from a grueling road trip and entered with a 7-7 record. After the first inning and the Titans put up a touchdown and kicked the extra point to make it 7-1, this mid-week game had the makings of a laugher.
Despite holding an 8-2 lead after two innings, the Buckeyes used timely hitting combined with untimely errors to eventually win the game 13-10. Despite a ninth inning, 2-run rally to trim the Buckeye’s 13-8 lead to 13-10, the Titans couldn’t complete the comeback.
The most concerning was the lack of pitching with Ryan Faulks, Andrew Morones and Chad Gurnea tagged with multiple earned runs. Add to it, Faulks was saddled with the loss, his second of the year bringing his record to 0-2 and inflating his ERA to 9.82.
We understand that mid-week games are games pieced together with strictly bullpen arms, but the lack of depth is concerning. Freshman Dylan Goff got the start, and his first action of the season and returner Jesse Alfaro also got his first appearance in 2024. Both did not go very long Wednesday and could see more work as the season progesses.
(Photo courtesy of Don Hudson
No Sunday for Gurnea?
Chad Gurnea also saw time on the mound on Wednesday, marking the first time he has seen mid-week action this season. Gurnea’s appearance against Ohio State had many fans asking the question if he has lost the Sunday starting role. Other questions remain that if Gurnea will get replaced on Sundays, who will be the newest Sunday starter?
Of the 10 Titan arms to throw on Wednesday, Peyton Jones nor Jason Blood made an appearance. Both Jones and Blood look poised to take over that Sunday Starter role if Gurnea is supplanted.
The Ugly
(Photo courtesy of Titan Athletics)
Burdick Injury
In the bottom of the second inning and his second plate appearance of the night vs. Ohio State, Cam Burdick reached on a throwing error by Buckeye third baseman Zach Fjelstad. The throw took First Baseman Ryan Miller off the base and forced him into a tag play on Burdick coming up the line.
The tag play caused quite a collision with Burdick taking the brunt of it on his left arm. Burdick tumbled to the ground in foul territory near the first base coaches’ box where Jake Pavletich occupies. Burdick clutched his left arm and CSUF sports medicine staff along with Head Coach Jason Dietrich ran to check on Burdick.
Burdick was able to stand on his own power but held his left forearm gingerly. Dietrich replaced Burdick with Draven Nushida for the remainder of the game.
Injury information in college baseball tends to be not very forthcoming and no details came out post-game. We reached out to the CSUF Sports Information Department for an official statement regarding the injury. The response via text:
“He is not available this weekend. It’s an arm injury that will keep him out an extended period of time”
What struck a cord with us was the use of the term “extended period of time”. You may recall that when referencing the absence of Evan Yates to start the season, Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball also tweeted the term “extended amount of time”. We’re 15 games into the 2024 season and we have not seen Yates appear once nor have we heard any update as to the reconciliation as to his personal matter.
Since Burdick’s first game action vs. Loyola Marymount, Burdick is hitting .450 in 20 at-bats and a .577 on-base percentage and is slugging .700. In addition to his bat, Burdick has recorded 12 put outs and has yet to commit an error this early season.
We can speak for all Titan fans and coaches to say we hope Burdick’s removal from the game was more precautionary than a serious injury.
Looking Ahead
The Titans hit the road and travel down the I-5 South to La Jolla to take on the UC San Diego Tritons to open Big West Play. The three-game series marks a match-up of the 2023 Big West Conference Champions (UCSD) vs. the Big West Conference Runners-up (CSUF).
The Tritons hold a 13-3 record and enjoy a 10-game win streak dating back to February 25. The Tritons three losses all came in February to Missouri, Utah and the University of San Diego. UCSD and the Titans played one common opponent, Loyola Marymount, with the Tritons beating the Lions 7-5 on February 25 and the Titans also victorious, winning 6-4 on February 27th.
Series History
The Titans and Tritons first played in 1975 and UCSD holds an 8-4 advantage in the all-time series. The Tritons have dominated the series dating back to 2021. In that span, the Tritons hold an 8-1 advantage over the Titans.
At the Plate
Of the Tritons that have appeared in 75% of games played in 2024, six are batting .333 and above. The entire team is batting .308. Emiliano Gonzalez leads the Tritons with a .429 average in 49 at-bats. Nick Costello remains the home run threat for UCSD, belting four home runs in 16 games played.
On the Bump
Right hander and Friday night starter Ryan Forcucci holds the lowest ERA (2.14) and lowest WHIP (0.71) of all Triton starters. The Titan batter will have their work cut out for them on Friday to try and hand Forucci his first loss of the season.
Closer Izaak Martinez has four saves on the season in seven appearances and holds a 0.49 ERA and 0.60 WHIP in 18.1 innings.
Outlook
Still transitioning from Division II to Division I, the Tritons remain ineligible for the NCAA post-season tournament. You can guarantee the Tritons will show no mercy on the Titans this weekend looking to prove they, and not the Titans, were the ones deserving of a Regional bid last season.
At 7-8, the Titans will need to clean up the errors, swing the bats a bit better and get better efforts out of their bullpen arms if they will compete with the Tritons. Should the Titans continue to struggle at the plate and give up runs from the bullpen, it could be a long weekend.
Weekend Probables
Friday, March 15: LHP Mikiah Negrete (2-0, 2.82 ERA vs. RHP – Ryan Forcucci (2-0, 2.14 ERA)
Saturday, March 16: RHP – Christian Rodriguez (2-2, 5.85 ERA) vs. LHP – Zack Ernisse (2-2, 4.02 ERA)
Saturday, March 17: RHP – Jason Blood (1-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. RHP – Matthew Dalquist (1-0, 3.21 ERA)
Times listed are Pacific time:
March 15, 2024 (Friday) at UC San Diego – 6:00 PM
March 16, 2024 (Saturday) at UC San Diego – 2:00 PM
March 17, 2024 (Sunday) at UC San Diego – 1:00 PM