Looking Back At The 2009 Baseball Season

Files associated with this release:
09 Final Release

Cal State Fullerton advanced to its 16th College World Series as the No. 2 seed.

Omaha Bound: No. 2 national-seeded Cal State Fullerton advanced to its 16th College World Series after sweeping both the regional and super regionals, and in the process outscoring their opponents 64-11. They opened postseason play with an 18-2 win over fourth-seeded Utah and followed that up with a 7-4 victory over No. 3 Gonzaga. A seventh consecutive trip to the super regionals was secured with Cal State Fullerton's second win over the Utes (16-3). The Titans went 2-0 against the Louisville Cardinals in the super regional with scores of 12-0 and 11-2.

Big West In the Postseason: The Big West Conference sent three teams to the 2009 NCAA Baseball Tournament. Joining the 64-team field was Big West Champion UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton, who were both regional hosts, and Cal Poly. Both UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton received national seeds with the Titans seeded No. 2 and the Anteaters garnering the No. 6 seed. The Titans and Anteaters also received the honor of hosting the regionals. This marked the first time the NCAA Regionals took place at Anteater Ballpark, while the Titans played their eighth regional at Goodwin Field.

The Titans made their 18th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the Anteaters earned their fourth straight bid, fifth overall. The Mustangs competed in their first NCAA regional playoff berth since moving to Division I prior to the 1995 season.

Big West Conference At The College World Series: The Big West Conference has had two baseball National Championships, with both of them claimed by the Cal State Fullerton Titans (1995, 2004). The other two titles the Titans earned in 1979 and 1984 were when they were competing in the Southern California Baseball Association (SCBA). Over the past 32 years of Big West baseball, the conference has sent four different teams to the College World Series - Cal State Fullerton, former member Fresno State (1988, 1991), Long Beach State and UC Irvine.

Domination On The Mound: For the fourth time in five years a member of the Big West Conference has ranked among the best in the county in earned run average. The Cal State Fullerton pitching staff, comprised of one sophomore and two freshmen in its weekend rotation, concluded the 2009 season ranked fourth in the nation with a 3.53 earned run average. In 2005 Long Beach State dominated on the mound, leading the nation with a 2.53 earned run average. The following year, a Titan trio of Wes Roemer, Lauren Gagnier and Dustin Miller, spearheaded a pitching staff that produced an NCAA-best ERA of 2.73. After a year out of the spotlight, the Big West made its presence felt once again in 2008 as Long Beach State (3.20) ranked second and UC Irvine (3.27) sat third in team ERA.

Major League Baseball Nabs 46 Big West Players In 2009 Draft: The Big West Conference had 46 players selected in the three-day, 50-round Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft with UC Santa Barbara’s Joe Gardner being the conference's first player taken, 94th pick in the third round by the Cleveland Indians. Gardner, a junior college transfer from Fremont, Calif., was the first of a school-record nine Gauchos drafted to pace the league. The previous high came in 2001 when seven UCSB players were chosen in the draft. Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton each had two players drafted on the final day to join UC Riverside with seven total draft selections. The Highlanders had seven players selected in the second day, six of which were pitchers. Like UC Santa Barbara, the Mustangs set a school record with their seven draft picks.

The 2009 Big West Champion, UC Irvine, saw five players drafted with Big West Player of the Year Ben Orloff being the first Anteater named (9th round, Houston Astros). Cal State Northridge and Long Beach State had four selections apiece and UC Davis saw three Aggies chosen in the 2009 MLB Draft.

‘Eaters Capture 2009 Big West Crown:Seven years after resurrecting its baseball program, UC Irvine has captured its first-ever Big West Conference Championship and they did so in dominating fashion. The Anteaters, who didn’t lose a weekend series all year, secured the coveted crown with five games remaining on their schedule. The Anteaters (45-15, 22-2 BWC) become the sixth current Big West member to win the baseball title. Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara and UC Riverside are among other past champions. UC Irvine also becomes the fourth different school to win the conference championship over the past three seasons. UC Riverside claimed the 2007 title and Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State tied for the 2008 championship.

Big West's Top Dogs:UC Irvine, making its first appearance at the top of the national polls this season, maintained the No. 1 position in the Baseball America poll for six straight weeks, the longest stint of any program this year. The Anteaters are not the only team to grace the top spot in a variety of publications this year. Early on, Cal State Fullerton led the nation after an impressive stretch of 15 wins over 16 games, which included a grueling eight-game road trip through the south.

A Stone's Throw Away:Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine hosted simultaneous NCAA Regional Baseball Tournaments this year, which were the closest in NCAA tournament history, surpassing the previous Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton duo. According to Google Maps, the driving distance from Cal State Fullerton to Long Beach State (Blair Field) is 22.7 miles and to UC Irvine (Anteater Ballpark) is 20.6 miles.

Facing the Nation:Since the Big West Conference is an all-California conference it plays a majority of its contests against fellow Golden State institutions, but when the teams battle a non-California opponent they continue their winning ways. The league owns a 75-48 record (.610) against non-California opponents.

UCI's Orloff Named Brooks Wallace Award Winner:Big West Player of the Year Ben Orloff was named the recipient of the 2009 Brooks Wallace Award, given to the nation’s best shortstop, as announced by the College Baseball Foundation at a reception in Omaha, Neb., during the College World Series. Orloff becomes the second Big West player to earn this distinguished award with Cal Sate Fullerton's Kurt Suzuki receiving the inaugural award in 2004.

Orloff, a senior from Simi Valley High School, hit .358 with a team-high 91 hits and 62 runs scored this season. He started all 60 games while leading the Anteaters to a 45-15 overall mark and an impressive 22-2 Big West record to claim their first-ever conference title. The Irvine Regional All-Tournament team member accumulated 18 stolen bases, 176 assists against just seven errors and a .976 fielding percentage over the course of the year.

CSF's Colon and Renken, CP’s Jensen Invited To National Team Trials: Invitees to the 2009 USA Baseball National Team Trials to be held at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C., June 15-24 include Titan sophomore Christian Colon, Fullerton ace Daniel Renken and Cal Poly freshman standout Matt Jensen. Colon, the only returning player from the Big West, lead the undefeated 2008 National Team with 173 plate appearances and was the only player to start every single game playing both shortstop and second base.

Renken (11-2) currently leads the Big West Conference with a 2.36 ERA and is second with 98 strikeouts.

Jensen, sidelined with a fractured clavicle suffered in a game May 2, sports a .375 batting average with 15 doubles, nine home runs and 53 RBI. The Clovis East High School graduate had started 41 of Cal Poly’s 42 games before he was involved in a collision with a San Francisco baserunner.

UC Irvine Makes Mark In Big West Record Book: The 2009 UC Irvine baseball program became the first team in Big West Conference history (dating back to 1985) to go undefeated at home during conference play. The Anteaters were a perfect 12-0 when playing in front of the home crowd at Anteater Ballpark this season.

The Anteaters concluded conference play with an impressive 22-2 mark (.917) to boast the second-best winning percentage in conference history. The only team to tally a higher conference winning percentage - the 1988 Fresno State Bulldogs, who went 20-1 (.952).

Cal Poly's Lee Earns 200th Win:A 10-2 win over Cal State Bakersfield on March 22 lifted Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee to his 200th win at the helm of the Mustangs squad. Lee also spent 16 years coaching at Cuesta College and compiled a 460-241-3 record during that span.

Serrano's 200th Win Sends Cal State Fullerton To Super Regionals: Cal State Fullerton skipper Dave Serrano registered his 200th career win in a 16-3 victory over Utah in the final game of the NCAA Regionals. Serrano now holds a combined overall record of 202-104-1 during his tenure as head coach at UC Irvine (2005-07) and Cal State Fullerton (2008-present).

Titan Freshman Duo Leaving Mark In Big West Record Book: Cal State Fullerton's pitching staff has combined for a league-leading 3.53 earned run average, which ranks the Titans among the best in the country. The Titans’ weekend lineup consists of sophomore Daniel Renken and freshmen Tyler Pill and Noe Ramirez, who are already making a name for themselves in their first season donning the orange and blue.

Pill and Ramirez concluded the regular season with Co-Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year accolades and are continuing to climb the Big West freshman pitching records through the postseason. Pill ended the year with an 11-3 record to rank fourth in wins and tie for seventh with 16 starts. He is also the first Big West freshman pitcher to toss two shutouts since Rocky Biddle (LBSU) mastered that feat in 1995.

Not to be out shined, Ramirez (9-2) has collected nine wins to tie for fifth all-time. In 107.0 innings pitched, the right-hander owns a 3.33 ERA, tying him for sixth with Fullerton’s Dustin Miller (2003).