A week or two ago, we revealed on our social media channels that on good authority the 2020 Titan Baseball schedule will contain a number of tradition rich baseball programs on the calendar. (We also revealed a little bit of the expected opponents on Epiosode 10 of the 1544 Miles to Omaha Podcast as well.)
The exact dates have yet to be finalized nor have then been officially announced. Below are the dates we predict the Titans will be playing each opponent. Again, these dates are not final and have not been officially announced. DO NOT plan road trips, buy airfare or make lodging accommodations based on this PREDICTED schedule. Start times will be available once the schedule is officially announced.
The only weekend series we can confirm is the Cal Poly series slated for May 1-3, 2020. Cal Poly officially released their schedule already.
Based on this projected schedule, the Titans will face stiff competition at home and on the road. The beginning of the season could see the Titans traveling on the road the first two weeks before coming home in late February.
Opening the season with Stanford up in Palo Alto continues a mini tradition of the Titans and Cardinal facing off in the early weeks of the college baseball season. The last time the Titans did not play Stanford was the 2014 season when the Titans opened the season with another Pac-12 foe, Washington State.
A mid-week game in San Diego against the San Diego State Aztecs and then the first weekend series at Goodwin Field plays host to the Tulane Green Wave, to complete the home-home series. You may recall the Titans played Tulane in New Orleans in 2018.
The Titans will stay home for a mid-week tilt vs. USC for a small Titan reunion. The Trojans are now coached by former Titan players in Head Coach Jason Gill moving from Loyola Marymount along with Ted Silva taking over the pitching coaching duties after numerous years in the same position at Nebraska.
The February 28 – March 1st weekend is a bit of a mystery. Our information was that the Titans would visit the Texas Longhorns in Austin that weekend. It was quickly pointed out the Longhorns will play in the Shriner’s Classic Tournament that weekend, a tournament the titans were not invited to participate in.
The Titans and Longhorns have a thick connection not only because legendary college baseball coach Augie Garrido coached both clubs but because the two programs have faced off in some of the biggest games in the NCAA postseason. (The Titans defeated Texas in the College World Series Finals in 1984 and 2004 to win the second and fourth national championships for the program.)
The Titans continue the tradition of playing a mid-week, two-game series with Arizona State. It is unclear if this series will be played in Arizona or in Fullerton. In 2018, The Titans traveled to Tempe to take on the Sun Devils and the Sun Devils were supposed to play two games in Fullerton in 2019. Due to the heavy rains last winter, only one game with Arizona State was able to be completed.
The Titans welcome in another strong opponent from the SEC with the Texas A&M Aggies coming to Fullerton. Xavier also is expected to visit Goodwin Field and the annual non-conference series with Long Beach State is expected to take place in Fullerton.
The Big West Conference baseball membership is still an odd number which means one Big West team has an open date that can either be used as a bye week or filled with a non-conference opponent. This year the Titans are not shying away stiff from competition by taking on the UCLA Bruins in a cross-county weekend series. It appears that the Bruins will host two games in Jackie Robinson Stadium with one of the weekend games played in Fullerton. The Bruins look to also return to Fullerton for another mid-week game as well.
The Big West slate is still in flux but since the Titans alternate playing home and away with conference opponents, it is safe to assume those teams the Titans traveled to last season, they will play host to in 2020.
Home conference opponents in 2020 appear to be: UC Riverside, Hawaii, Cal Poly and Cal State Northridge
Big West Conference road opponents in 2020 appear to be: UC Davis, Long Beach State, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara
Projected 2020 Cal State Fullerton Baseball Schedule:
Feb 14-16: @ Stanford
Feb 18: @ San Diego St.*
Feb 21-23: Tulane*
Feb 25: USC
Feb 28-Mar 1: ???
Mar 3-4: Arizona State
Mar 6-8: Texas A&M*
Mar 13-15: Xavier
Mar 17: @ USD
Mar 20-22: Long Beach State*
Mar 24: Cal Baptist
Mar 27-29: UC Riverside
Apr 3-4: @ UCLA
Apr 5: UCLA
Apr 7: San Diego St.*
Apr 9-11: @ UC Davis
Apr 14: USD
Apr 17-19: Hawaii
Apr 21: USC
Apr 24-26: @ Long Beach*
May 1-3: Cal Poly*
May 5: UCLA
May 8-10: @ UC Irvine
May 12: UC Irvine
May 15-17: @ UCSB
May 21-23: CSUN
*Confirmed by opposing school release of schedule