First place Cal State Fullerton has won 11 of its last 14 games and rejoined the national top 25 after a brief hiatus, emerging at No. 22 in this week's Baseball America poll.  The Titans look to keep rolling with a road series against UC Santa Barbara this weekend.

AROUND THE BIG WEST

Titans Take League Lead
Cal State Fullerton won an important series against Big West rival UC Irvine last week to take over sole possession of first place in the standings.  The Titans, which have won 11 of their last 14 games, hope to stay hot this weekend with a roadtrip to UC Santa Barbara.

After a 7-4 loss in the series opener to the Anteaters, the Titans buckled down and limited their fellow Orange County foe to just four runs over the next two games.  The pitching effort lowered CSF’s team earned run average to a Big West low 3.82.  The Titans also enjoyed an impressive road victory at No. 2 UCLA.  CSF reentered the national rankings at No. 22 in this week’s Baseball America poll.

UC Santa Barbara is currently tied for second place with UC Irvine, although the Gauchos have played three less league contests.  The Gauchos took two of three against Central Coast rival Cal Poly last weekend.  The club has experienced swings of success and struggles so far in 2010.  At one juncture, UCSB won a season-high six straight games, followed by a four-game skid.  The Gauchos then won three straight, only to lose their next four, including the opener of the Cal Poly series.

UC Irvine hosts Pacific in an intriguing series pitting the Big West’s top offensive club against the second-stingiest pitching staff.  The Tigers are batting .337 on the year, while the Anteater arms have posted a 4.02 ERA.  Pacific also leads the league circuit with a .976 fielding percentage.

Other league matchups feature a battle of 3-3 teams as Long Beach State travels to UC Riverside, rounded out by Cal Poly’s visit to Cal State Northridge.  UC Davis plays a non-conference road series against Cal State Bakersfield.

Worth The Price Of Admission
Chances are fans will be treated to a tight ballgame when Big West teams square off against each other.  At least that’s the early indication through the first two weeks of conference play.  Of the 24 games that have been played, 13 have been decided by two runs or less and eight by a single run.  Long Beach State, a respectable 3-3 in league play, has lost a pair of one-run ballgames and one game by two runs in Big West action.

Tiger Hurlers Reach Six Wins
Pacific boasts the only pair of pitchers in the Big West with six wins - and both have 6-0 records.  Junior Marcus Pointer and senior David Rowse have accounted for 12 of the 19 Tiger victories on the season.  The two are tied for the Big West lead in wins.  Pointer had a no-decision in his last outing, going eight innings and allowing six runs to UC Riverside.  Rowse earned his sixth win after tossing 6.2 innings against the Highlanders, yielding 10 hits and five runs in a 6-5 triumph.

Titans Launching Balls Into Orbit
Cal State Fullerton’s recent solid play has coincided with a home run binge.  The Titans have blasted 13 home runs in their last nine games.  They hit 15 long balls through the first 21 games.  In fact, CSF had notched at least one home run in eight straight games before seeing the streak end in Sunday’s 6-1 win against UC Irvine.  The Titans now rank second in the Big West with 28 home runs.  At the same time, they haven’t abandoned their reputation for manufacturing runs, leading the league with 56 stolen bases.

Gillespie Nears Next Milestone
UCI’s Mike Gillespie is in his 23rd season as a college head coach, and owns a career mark of 898-515-2.  He needs two more wins to reach 900.  The Anteaters travel to San Diego on Tuesday and host Pacific for a three-game Big West series this weekend.

Northridge Halts Losing Streak
Relief was the prevailing feeling for Cal State Northridge, which snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory against Cal State Bakersfield Sunday.  In fact, relief helped the Matadors gain the win as sophomore Justen Gorski shutout the Roadrunners in the eighth and ninth innings to pick up his first career save.  Gorski also made a winner out of senior Jimmy Jolicoeur, who was making his first start since 2008.  The normally productive CSUN offense has slumped recently, and scored just 17 runs total during the seven-game skid.

Cusick’s Hit Streak At 20
UC Irvine’s Jeff Cusick owns a current 20-game hit streak, the longest in the Big West this season.  The senior hit a three-run walk-off homer to propel the Anteaters to a 7-4 victory against Cal State Fullerton in Friday night’s series opener.  His four RBI performance in that game gave him 32 for the season, tying him for the third-best total in the Big West.

Highlander Homestand Begins
The longest homestand of the season for UC Riverside - nine games - begins on Tuesday against top-ranked UCLA.  The matchup with the Bruins precedes UCR’s key conference series against Long Beach State this weekend.  UCR is 0-3 against non-conference top 25 teams, but nearly upset UCLA back on March 9 in a 3-2 defeat.  

Extra Inning Prescription
It has been a rough stretch for Cal Poly, which has lost 15 of its last 18 games.  But success is just about guaranteed for the Mustangs when the game goes to extra innings.  Cal Poly defeated UC Santa Barbara, 4-3, in 10 innings in the Big West series opener Friday, marking the seventh straight extra inning victory for the program over the last two seasons. 

Five-Hit Focus
Long Beach State senior T.J. Mittlestaedt went 5-for-5 on Sunday to help the 49ers to an 11-0 win against UC Davis.  He became the fifth Big West player this season - and the second 49er - to record five hits in a game.  Teammate Devin Lohman had five hits against Pacific on April 2.  The other five-hit performances came from Cal State Northridge T.S. Reed versus Sacramento State (Mar. 27), Cal State Fullerton’s Gary Brown against Washington (Mar. 20) and UC Davis’ Daniel Cepin versus California (Feb. 24).

Meaux Endurance
Leading the Big West with five complete games is the UC Santa Barbara pitching staff.  Junior Jesse Meaux became the third Gaucho hurler to go the distance when he allowed eight hits and three runs against Cal Poly in a 10-3 UCSB victory Sunday.  Juniors Mario Hollands and Nick Capito have pitched two complete games apiece.  Meaux’s effort marks the fourth time in seven series this season that a UCSB pitcher has thrown a complete game.

College Baseball Foundation Names Six To Watch Lists
The College Baseball Foundation released the first watch lists for the Brooks Wallace Award and Pitcher of the Year, and the Big West was represented by six players.  The Brooks Wallace Award, which recognizes the nation’s top shortstop, includes Cal State Fullerton junior Christian Colon, UC Santa Barbara senior Matt Valaika and Pacific senior Ben Gorang on the list of 54 players being considered by the CBF.  On the 49-player Pitcher of the Year Watch List, UC Irvine seniors Danny Bibona and Eric Pettis join UC Santa Barbara junior Mario Hollands as Big West representatives.

Colon was one of two finalists for the 2009 Wallace Award that appeared on the initial 2010 list.   The other player was Jedd Gyorko of West Virginia.  Both awards will be presented on July 2 in Lubbock, Texas, as part of the College Baseball Awards Show.

Big West Vs. Top 25
Cal Poly                        0-4
Cal State Fullerton        2-4
Cal State Northridge     2-1
Long Beach State         4-3
UC Davis                      0-1
UC Irvine                      0-2
UC Riverside                0-3
UC Santa Barbara        1-3
Pacific                           1-1

Most Multi-Hit Games
Gary Brown, Cal State Fullerton        18
J.B. Brown, Pacific                             17
Brian Martin, Pacific                           17
Mike Walker, Pacific                           16
Carlos Lopez, Cal State Fullerton      14
C.J. Belanger, Cal State Northridge   14

Most Multi-RBI Games
Nick Ramirez, Cal State Fullerton             11
Dominic D’Anna, Cal State Northridge      10
Ryan Pineda, Cal State Northridge            9
Jeff Cusick, UC Irvine                                 9
Michael Hur, UC Riverside                         8

Longest Hitting Streaks
*Jeff Cusick, UC Irvine                               20
Dominic D’Anna, Cal State Northridge      18
Carlos Lopez, Cal State Fullerton             17
J.B. Brown, Pacific                                    15
Mitch Haniger, Cal Poly                             14
Gary Brown, Cal State Fullerton                14

* Current streak

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