Titans And Anteaters Look To Vie For Conference Supremacy

2009 Regular Season Champion:  UC Irvine* There is no Big West Tournament.

Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine and Cal Poly all received NCAA Tournament bids in 2009, and they are all in good shape to get back to the postseason again.  Those three teams have some of the top talent in a conference that’s loaded with talent.

2010 Big West Preview

Cal Poly

2009 Record:  (37-21, 14-10)

Mascot:  Mustangs

Head Coach:  Larry Lee

Location:  San Luis Obispo, CA

Vitals:  .325 BA, 61 HR, .410 OBP, .966 Fld%…5.95 ERA, 2 CG, 10 SV, 377 K, 218 BB, .319 opp. BA

Milestone Moment:  Cal Poly’s 2009 NCAA bid gave the program its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament

Matt Jensen (8) hit his first career home run in his first college game.

since moving to Division I in 1995.  The Mustangs were 0-2 at the Tempe Regional.

Freshman Phenom:  Matt Jensen was named the 2010 is Big West Freshman of the Year.   Jensen  was sidelined late in the season due to a fractured clavicle, but he hit .375 with 15 doubles, 9 home runs and 53 RBIs.  Jensen has been invited to the 2010 USA Baseball Team Trials.

Picking-Up The Slack:  Jensen will be called upon to fill the void in the line-up left by the departure of Adam Buschini (.422, 11 HR, 61 RBIs), but six other players who started at least 32 games last year return to provide an experienced supporting cast.  Included in that group is Sr. OF Luke Yoder (.302, 9 HR, 40 RBIs).

Lost & Found:  Junior RHP Steven Fischback is back this season after missing 2009 due to injury.  He was 5-4 with a 4.55 ERA in 2008, while finishing 7th in the Big West with 79 strikeouts.  Fischback will help bolster a staff that returns starters D.J. Mauldin (5-5, 4.75 ERA) Mason Radeke (6-2, 5.31 ERA) and Matt Leonard (5-3, 7.68 ERA) as well as reliever Mark DeVincenzi (6-1, 4.26 ERA, 31 app.).  The biggest hole to fill will be that of departed reliever Eric Massingham (7-3, 3.07 ERA, 6 SV).

Cal State Fullerton

2009 Record:  (47-16, 17-7)

Mascot:  Titans

Head Coach:  Dave Serrano

Location:  Fullerton, CA

Vitals:  .329 BA, 61 HR, .414 OBP, .976 Fld%…3.53 ERA, 5 CG, 12 SV, 455 K, 161 BB, .243 opp. BA

Daniel Renken

Regional Regulars:  The Titans qualified for an NCAA Regional for the 18th consecutive year in 2009.  They went 5-0 in Regional and Super Regional play last year to advance to the College World Series for the 16th time.

Pitching Prowess:  Not many teams can boast returning 31 wins from its weekend rotation, but that’s what Fullerton has in Daniel Renken (11-3, 2.69 ERA), Noe Ramirez (9-2, 3.33 ERA) and Tyler Pill (11-3, 4.06 ERA).   Meanwhile,  Nick Ramirez (3-1, 2.61 ERA, 7 SVs) is back to close the door. He and Pill have both been invited to the 2010 USA Baseball Team Trials.   The staff’s 3.53 ranked 4th in the nation last year.

Line-Up Losses:  Pitching might need to carry the Titans early due to the losses of top run producers Jared Clark (.363, 12 HR, 82 RBIs) and Khris Davis (.328, 16 HR, 58 RBIs).

Then Again:  Preseason All-American Christian Colon (.357, 8 HR, 40 RBIs) is back to lead an offense that includes Nick Ramirez (.287, 10 HR, 31 RBIs), Joey Siddons (.371) and Gary Brown (.340).  The Titans 125 stolen bases ranked 6th nationally last year.

Friend Or Foe?:  Fullerton plays its 2010 season-opener on Feb. 19 when it hosts Oregon, which is in its second season since resurrecting its program.  The Ducks are coached by former Titan skipper George Horton.

Cal State Northridge

2009 Record:  (24-32, 7-17)

Mascot:  Matadors

Head Coach:  Steve Rousey

Location:  Northridge, CA

Vitals:  .270 BA, 32 HR, .359 OBP, .956 Fld%…4.97 ERA, 2 CG, 13 SV, 354 K, 178 BB, .291 opp. BA

Main Men:  The Matadors return six starters from a year ago incluing first baseball Dominic D’Anna (.326, 7 HR, 32), who had solid numbers despite missing half of the Big West slate due to injury, and Ryan Pineda (.294, 10 HR, 44 RBIs).

The Departed:  Closer Brian Slover (1.39 ERA, 9 Saves), Richard Cates, who led the team in several offensive categories including batting average (.374), on-base percentage (.456) and runs (44), Jeff Pruitt, and Ryan McCarney were all drafted last year, while coach’s son P.J. Rousey (1.93 ERA) signed a free agent contract with the Angels.

Setting Sun Meets Rising Sun:  The Matadors are one of a handful of teams that will host Waseda University from Tokyo, Japan in an exhibition game this season.

Hoping For Help:  After an 8th place Big West finish in 2009, Northridge has 13 newcomers on the team this season.  The Matadors have had back-to-back top-40 recruiting classes.

Long Beach State

2009 Record:  (25-29, 11-13)

Mascot:  49ers (Official)/Dirtbags (Unofficial)

Head Coach:  Mike Weathers

Location:  Long Beach, CA

Vitals:  .289 BA, 24 HR, 118 SB, .370 OBP, .966 Fld%…5.18 ERA, 1 CG, 13 SV, 331 K, 162 BB, .303 opp. BA

Steve Tinoco

Give And Take:  The Dirtbags return two starting pitchers in Andrew Gagnon (3-7, 6.32 ERA) and  Jake Thompson (4-7, 5.61 ERA), but they lose their top two pitchers, Adam Wilk (7-4, 2.78) and closer Charlie Ruiz (2-2, 3.60 ERA, 11 SVs).

Running Dirtbags:  The team returns seven starters from last year’s team, including leading batter Steve Tinoco (.343, 5 HR, 30 RBIs).  While none in the group hit more than 4 home runs, six hit .304 or better, and five stole at least 11 bases.  Jordan Casas hit .308 with a team-best 22 swipes.

Keep It In Cali:  30 of the 33 players on the Long Beach State 2010 roster hail from California.

UC Davis

2009 Record:  (13-42, 5-19)

Mascot:  Aggies

Head Coach:  Rex Peters

Location:  Davis, CA

Vitals:  .268 BA, 15 HR, .335 OBP, .962 Fld%…6.72 ERA, 0 CG, 3 SV, 300 K, 287 BB, .304 opp. BA

Lone Aggie:  Junior third baseman Ty Kelly (.307) was UC Davis’ only All-Big West selection last year when he received honorable mention status.  Kelly led the Aggies in doubles (20), HR (4), RBIs (40), slg% (.465), and BB (23).  He was drafted in theh 13th round and signed with the Baltimore Orioles.

Slim Pitching:  On a team that won just 13 games freshman Anthony Kupbens (2-1, 4.88 ERA) and Junior Tim Busbin (2-1, 4.98 ERA) were the only two pitchers on the staff with winning records.  Kupbens made 3 starts with 5 relief appearances, while all 16 of Busbin’s appearances were in relief.

Mountain Air:  The Aggies play six of their first seven games at home vs. Mountain West Conference opponents Utah and BYU.

Daniel Bibona

2009 Record:  (45-15, 22-2)

Mascot:  Anteaters

Head Coach:  Mike Gillespie

Location:  Irvine, CA

Vitals:  .317 BA, 43 HR, .400 OBP, .976 Fld%…4.43 ERA, 2 CG, 20 SV, 424 K, 160 BB, .280 opp. BA

Call From The Hall:  Irvine head coach Mike Gillespie was recently inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame.  Heading into 2010 Gillespie ranks 24th in wins among active Division I coaches with a career record of 850-504-2.  Prior to his time at UC Irvine Gillespie spents 20 years as USC where he guided the Trojans to four College World Series appearances, including the 1998 national title.

Record Setting Season:  The Anteaters were 22-2 (.917) en-route to winning the program’s first Big West title.  At 12-0, they were the first Big West team to go unbeaten at home and they hosted their first-ever NCAA Regional at Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark.

Christian Bergman

Look Who’s Back:  The staff is loaded, starting with  2009 Big West Pitcher of the Year Daniel Bibona (12-1, 2.63 ERA) along with All-Americans Christian Bergman (9-3, 3.50 ERA) and Big West saves leader (17) Eric Pettis (5-2, 3.86 ERA) not to mention Crosby Slaught (8-0, 4.62 ERA).

No Average Anteaters:  UCI returns four All-Big West position players in Francis Larson (.309, 43 RBIs), Casey Stevenson (.346, 19 doubles, 41 RBIs) , Ronnie Schaeffer (.388, 12 doubles, 36 RBIs), and Tommie Reyes (.348).

He Put The “O” In Offense:  Irvine’s biggest loss will be that of shortstop Ben Orloff, who won the 2009 Brooks Wallace Award.  Orloff is UCI’s all-time leader in games played (241), at bats (877), runs scored (178) and hits (281).  He started the last 215 games of his college career.

UC Riverside

2009 Record:  (33-20, 12-12)

Mascot:  Highlanders

Head Coach:  Doug Smith

Location:  Riverside, CA

Vitals:  .294 BA, 36 HR, .361 OBP, .970 Fld%…4.22 ERA, 4 CG, 13 SV, 342 K, 127 BB, .275 opp. BA

Draft Plan:  Riverside had seven players, including six pitchers, taken in last year’s Major League Draft.

Highlander Highs:  All-Big West performers Michael Hur and Ryan Goetz are back to lead the offense.  Hur led the Highlanders in OPS (1.009), batting average (.372), on base percentage (.426), slugging percentage (.583), home runs (7) and RBIs (52).  Goetz (.340 BA) was third on the team in OPS (.888) and on base percentage (.386) and tied for second in home runs (5).

Theft Loss:  Riverside only stole 56 bases last year, and they lose stolen base leader Carl Uhl who had 17 swipes in 2009.

On The Mound:  Sophomore Matt Andriese (5-4, 3.93 ERA) and Dustin Emmons (1-3, 2.80 ERA, 23 app.) are the top returners back on the staff.  They’ll look to fill the holes left by Paul Applebee (10-2, 3.74 ERA) and Kelly Joseph (12 SVs).

Surprise!:  The Highlanders face Oregon State, Arizona State, Florida International, and Utah Valley State in Surprise, AZ in early March.

UC Santa Barbara

2009 Record:  (29-23, 11-13)

Mascot:  Gauchos

Head Coach:  Bob Brontsema

Location:  Santa Barbara, CA

Vitals:  .300 BA, 55 HR, .377 OBP, .967 Fld%…5.56 ERA, 3 CG, 7 SV, 305 K, 199 BB, .287 opp. BA

Gauchos Gaining Ground:  UCSB’s 64 combined wins in the 2008 & 2009 seasons represent the second-best two-year total in head coach Bob Brontsema’s 15 years at the school.

Experience On The Mound:  LHP Mario Hollands (6-6, 4.74 ERA) and RHP Mike Ford (4-5, 6.75 ERA) lead the Gaucho pitching staff.  Ford looks to return to his 2008 form when he received All-American recognition after going

Matt Valaika

6-4 with a 2.96 ERA.

Experience At The Plate:  Second baseman Matt Valaika (.343, 6 HR, 45 RBIs, .545 slg%) is back for his senior season after being drafted by Cincinnati last year.  He’s joined by catcher Marty Mullins (.295, 11 doubles) and leadoff man Gunnar Terhune (10 SB).

Nice Newcomer:  LHP Kevin Gelinas comes to  UCSB from Central Arizona Junior College.  He was rated as the top prospect in the summer California Collegiate League by Baseball America.

Northern Exposure:  The Gauchos make separate trips north for non-conference series vs. Stanford, San Jose State and Sacramento State in 2010.  They go north again for a season-ending Big West series vs. Pacific in Stockton, CA.

Pacific

2009 Record:  (21-32, 9-15)

Mascot:  Tigers

Head Coach:  Ed Sprague

Location:  Stockton, CA

Vitals:  .322, 38 HR, .392 OBP, .966 Fld%…6.36 ERA, 4 CG, 8 SV, 282 K, 170 BB, .325 opp. BA

Double Down:  Head coach Ed Sprague helped Stanford win back-to-back national championships in 1987 and ’88 and later helped the Toronto Blue Jays win consecutive World Series crowns in 1992 and ’93.

Tiger Trio:  Three all-conference performers are back to lead the offense in 2010.  Senior Mike Walker (.345, 6 HR, 34 RBIs) is joined by juniors Nick Longmire (.385, 6 HR, 37 RBIs, 1.044 OPS) and  J.B. Brown (.378, 7 HR, 58 RBIs, 17 doubles), who led the Tigers in HR and RBIs.

Two-Sport No More:  Casey Neimeyer will focus solely on baseball this year after splitting the previous two seasons with the Pacific basketball team.  The 6’8 redshirt senior was 1-2 in 13 innings as a reliever in 2008, but he didn’t play baseball in 2009.  He averaged 1.8 points a game that season playing hoops.

Texas Trip:  The Tigers play Gonzaga, Notre Dame and Bradley at the Irish Baseball Classic in San Antonio, TX in March.

2010 Big West Predictions

Player of the Year:  Matt Jensen – Cal Poly

Pitcher of the Year:  Daniel Renken – Cal State Fullerton

Conference Champion:  UC Irvine…with Fullerton right behind.  Big West coaches picked Fullerton to win the title in their preseason poll.  Both teams have great pitching returning, but the Titans have bigger holes to fill offensively.

Save The Dates:  Irvine hosts Fullerton April 9-11.  The Anteaters won two of three games in their series at Fullerton last year.