This week’s Thursday Thoughts: Wichita State & San Diego State edition, comes with a bit of optimism compared to last week’s skepticism. The Titans not only hit the road for the second straight weekend but came home with a series win in their back pocket.
The Titans then put up a touchdown vs. San Diego State on Tuesday and by golly, all of a sudden we’re got a winning streak on our hands.
The last time the Titans had a winning streak of three games came just short of 360 days ago with the series sweep over Jacksonville. The last winning streak of four straight came in early May 2023 with two wins over CSUN, a mid-week vs. USC and the Friday night at TCU. The Titans can make it four consecutive as they open up Big West Conference play on Friday at Cal Poly.
Join us as we yet again look at the Good, the Bad and the Ugly that was the Wichita State and San Diego State mid-week games in week three of the 2025 Titan Baseball season.
The Results
Overall Record: 4-8
Conference Record: 0-0
Streak:Won 3
Last 10: 4-6
Offense
Runs Scored: 73
Hits: 106
Doubles: 20
Triples: 3
Home Runs: 14
RBI: 64
Team Batting Avg: .262
On-Base %: .371
Slugging %: .431
Walks: 53
Extra base hits: 37
Total bases: 174
Hit by pitch: 17
Stolen Bases: 7
Strikeouts: 99
Defense
Errors: 10
Fielding %: .977
Double Plays turned: 8
Passed Balls: 2
Stolen Bases allowed: 6
Pitching
Team ERA: 5.93
WHIP: 1.74
Batting average against: .316
Hits allowed: 101
Total Runs Allowed: 139
Earned Runs Allowed: 69
Walks Issued: 42
Strikeouts: 94
Home runs allowed: 9
Titans of the Week
Winners chosen via Twitter/X poll
Pitcher of the Week
Andrew Wright: 3.2IP – 3H – 0ER – 0BB – 4K – 0.00 ERA – 1S
Also considered:
Jason Blood: 3.2IP- 3H – 0ER – 0BB – 4K – 0.00 ERA – 1W
Dylan Goff: 3IP- 2H – 0ER – 0BB – 3K – 0.00 ERA – 1W
Jayden Harper: 2IP- 2H – 0ER – 0BB – 1K – 0.00 ERA – 1W
Vote on the #CalStateOmaha Pitcher of the Week@jtblood13: 3.2IP- 3H – 0ER – 0BB – 4K – 0.00 ERA – 1W@DylanGoff1423: 3IP- 2H – 0ER – 0BB – 3K – 0.00 ERA – 1W@JaydenHarper04: 2IP- 2H – 0ER – 0BB – 1K – 0.00 ERA – 1W@andrew_wright44: 3.2IP – 3H – 0ER – 0BB – 4K – 0.00 ERA – 1S
— Cal State Omaha (@CalStateOmaha) March 5, 2025
Batter of the Week
Andrew Kirchner : 6/12 – .500 – 3R – 9RBI – 5BB – 1K -1HR
Also considered:
Matthew Bardowell: 7/15 – .470 – 2R – 4RBI – 2BB – 2K -3XBH
Isaiah Gomez: 4/9 – .440 – 2R – 3RBI – 0BB – 4K -1HR
Maddox Latta: 6/13 – .460 – 3R – 1RBI – 3BB – 3K -1XBH
Vote on the #CalStateOmaha Batter of the Week@BardowellJ: 7/15 – .470 – 2R – 4RBI – 2BB – 2K -3XBH@isaiahhgomez: 4/9 – .440 – 2R – 3RBI – 0BB – 4K -1HR@LattaMaddox: 6/13 – .460 – 3R – 1RBI – 3BB – 3K -1XBH@Andrewkirchner0: 6/12 – .500 – 3R – 9RBI – 5BB – 1K -1HR#TusksUp
— Cal State Omaha (@CalStateOmaha) March 5, 2025
The Good
First Series Win of 2025
It may come as something obvious but gaining a series win, on the road no less, definitely qualifies as something in the “good” column.
In addition to confidence boost it possibly can provide heading into Big West play this weekend, the increasing number under the W column can lift a team to new heights. The fact that it came on the road can only help in way we may not recognize until later in the season.
Titans defeat Wichita State 5-0!#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/9uPbvjv8Z9
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) March 1, 2025
Shutout in Wichita
The series win provides a springboard for bigger things to come but recording a shutout on Saturday in Wichita couldn’t have come at a better time.
It may sound obvious but prior to the shutout win, the first win came when the Titans surrendered three runs on Saturday up in Fresno. The previous losses all came when the Titans gave up five or more runs.
Andrew Clutchner
No, Andrew Kirchner has not officially changed his name but if he continues to come up with timely hits in clutch situations, he might consider it.
Starting 12 games this season, Kirchner has hit successfully in 10 of them and reached base in 11 out of 12, with the opening game vs. Stanford the outlier. His consistency at the plate is remarkable however this past weekend his ability to deliver in key situations has the making of a future fan favorite.
Kirchner goes yard!#TusksUp | @Andrewkirchner0 pic.twitter.com/Dno9xZcSG1
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) February 28, 2025
That was Friday with two outs and two men on trailing by one run in the third inning. The Kirch bomb gave the Titans a much-needed boost but unfortunately would lose that Friday on a walk off homer.
Kirchner, make it two!#TusksUp | @Andrewkirchner0 pic.twitter.com/u6VFD4S9cS
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) March 5, 2025
Kirch got the party started on Tuesday and opened up the scoring, driving in Cam Burdick and Eli Lopez vs. San Diego State. Kirchner wound up with four RBI on the night, his fourth game with four driven in. He leads the team in RBI with 21, head and shoulders above the next Titan, Marcos Rosales with 10 RBI.
Wright gets the Titans out of bases loaded jam!#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/4MYTAbKK4h
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) March 1, 2025
Team ERA dropped by 1.77
What a difference a shutout and a one run game can do for a team ERA.
Entering the weekend vs. Wichita State, Titan arms held a 7.70 ERA. After the win vs. SDSU, the team ERA dropped 1.77 points down to 5.93.
Yes, we agree that a 5.93 ERA still sits way too high but a few more low scoring games and a possible shutout the next few games could do wonders for a team ERA.
In calculating the stats for the Cal State Omaha Pitcher of the Week poll, nine pitchers came out of the three games in Wichita and the one against SDSU with 0.00 ERAs. Those arms included Chris Hernandez, Payton Hawkinson, Derek Turner, Dylan Goff, Dylan Smith, Landon Martin, Andrew Wright, Jason Blood and Jayden Harper.
Bats Heating Up
We noted Kirchner’s bat has carried a major load to the tune of 21 RBI, but other Titan batters have really upped their games. Four Titans that have played in 75% of games and average at least two plate appearances per games played hold a batting average above .300.
Mathew Bardowell leads those Titan batter with a .371 average followed by Eli Lopez (.356), Maddox Latta (.348) and Kirchner with .311.
If those four can continue to stay hot while other major contributors like Max Ortega, Cam Burdick Jack Burke, Carter Johnstone and Jakob Schardt can bump into the .300 club, the Titans have the makings a nice team moving forward.
The Bad
Heartbreaker on Friday
A walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth remains one of the best and exhillerating moments in all of sports. When it happens against your team, not so much.
That’s exactly what happened on Friday in Wichita when leading by a run, Jason Krakoski relieved Andrew Wright to start the bottom of the ninth.
Krakoski hit the first batter who then was eliminated on a fielder’s choice allowing the batter to replace him at first. A ground out made it two outs but the runner stood on second base.
It didn’t matter where the runner stood because the two-run home run from Lane Haworth cleared the bases for another crushing loss and dropped the Titans to 1-8.
Crushing to have the win ripped away, especially with two outs, and the Titans could taste their second victory of the season. Thankfully the loss did not send the Titans spiraling because they have rattled off three straight wins since.
The Ugly
Strike 3s and LOBs
Strike outs are part of the game, we get that. But the backwards Ks can be a bit frustrating. Add to it, punch outs with men on base, that gets the fans’ blood pressure really into the high range. In looking back at the past four games, the frustration levels came to light.
Friday
Top eighth inning on Friday in Wichita, Max Ortega walked to lead off the inning with the Titans leading 4-3. Waldie Perez pinch ran for Ortega and immediately advanced to second on a passed ball. Jakob Schardt laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to get Waldie to third. With an additional insurance run 90 feet away, Maddox Latta struck out swinging and Matthew Bardowell struck out looking.
Saturday
The Titans ended XX inning with a looking strike out. Top of the first, Latta backwards K with a runner on base. Top of the second, Johnstone looked at strike three for a three up, three down inning. Top of the fifth, Eli Lopez took strike three to end the inning. The Titans would eventually go and score late, but the early strike outs had many worried if the Titans would ever win another game.
Sunday
Although the Titans started the first inning by scoring two, Bardowell stranded Latta on a looking strike out. Other innings ended with a Titan strikeout but at least those came with the Titan batter swinging.
Tuesday
Tuesday’s tilt vs the Aztecs did not feature a looking strike out to end the innings but numerous swinging Ks ended the second, fifth and eighth, stranding five runners in the process. Although the titans did not need those runs in a 7-1 game, the frustration levels remained at a fever pitch.
Looking Ahead
Starting Friday, the Titans open Big West Conference play up in San Luis Obispo, taking on Cal Poly at Baggett Stadium. The Mustangs enter conference play 6-6 with their biggest win of the season coming on Sunday, February 23rd in College Station, Texas vs. the Texas A&M Aggies. That win in College Station appears like a catalyst for the Mustangs as they have rattled off five of their six wins in their last six games.
Series History
Titans currently hold the all-time series record over Cal Poly 74-54 but many of those wins came in previous decades. In the Post-Covid era, the Mustangs hold a 10-3 advantage, including a 7-0 double series sweep from 2021-22.
Last season at Goodwin, the Titans dropped the series to the Mustangs winning on Friday but Cal Poly won the double header to clinch the series. The last time the Titans played in Baggett Stadium, they took the regular season finale series 2-1. You may recall 2023 was the season where the Titans advanced to the post-season regional at Stanford.
Times listed are Pacific time:
March 7, 2025 (Friday)
@ Cal Poly – 6:00 PM
March 8, 2025 (Saturday)
@ Cal Poly – 3:00 PM
March 9, 2025 (Sunday)
@ Cal Poly – 1:00 PM
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