NCAA SOUTH I REGION NOTEBOOK / MIKE DiGIOVANNA : Dembisky Fills Role of Titans’ Bullpen Stopper

BATON ROUGE, La. —  Cal State Fullerton starter James Popoff was hit hard at times but persevered Thursday, going 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, eight hits and striking out eight against Ohio State.

The senior right-hander and Big West Conference pitcher of the year struck out No. 5 hitter Ken Tirpack with a runner on second in the fourth inning and again with a runner on third in the sixth.

Popoff finally tired in the eighth, but Chad Dembisky, who pitched sparingly through April, continued his late-season emergence as Fullerton’s bullpen stopper, retiring four of Ohio State’s last five batters--one reached on an error--to earn the victory.

Dembisky, who played high school baseball in Montana, community college ball at Lassen Junior College in Susanville, Calif., and a season at Loyola Marymount, said his earlier problems stemmed from his inability to adjust to a more demanding program.

“I wasn’t pitching that poorly early in the season, but we had a great staff, where eight or nine guys were capable of pitching very well,” Dembisky said. “In the programs I used to be in, I was able to not be my best but still got the ball every day. For the first time, I’m in a program where if I don’t throw well, I’m not going to pitch, and that took some getting used to.”

Glove-man: Titan third baseman Phil Nevin is expected to be a first-round pick in June’s professional baseball draft, but it was Fullerton shortstop Nate Rodriquez who made the big-league plays Thursday.

In the first inning, Ohio State’s Mike Mulligan led off with a hard grounder up the middle, but Rodriquez made a diving stab to his left, got up and threw Mulligan out. Rodriquez then snared Doug Wollenburg’s one-hop smash and Jamie Taylor’s liner, turning both into first-inning outs.

“I love watching him play short after having a butcher like me out there last season,” Nevin said of Rodriquez, who has made 13 errors in 50 games. “I knew he’d play great defense, but not this exceptional. He’s also had some key hits and RBIs. He’s been a big help, both offensively and defensively.”

Take your base: Nevin, who entered with a .390 average, 20 homers and 71 RBIs, has grown accustomed to opponents pitching around him, but Thursday was a little ridiculous.

Nevin was walked intentionally three times, and when he finally had a chance to bat with the bases empty in the ninth, he admitted he had trouble staying focused.

“I was so pumped up from not swinging all day,” said Nevin, who doubled and later scored the winning run in the ninth. “I’m kind of a tense person. I like to swing the bat, and it’s frustrating when you’re not able to do it all day.”

Excuse of the day: Though his breaking pitch was ineffective and he relied almost exclusively on his fastball, Buckeye starter Chris Granata pitched a fine game, allowing two runs and nine hits in 6 1/3 innings.

But Ohio State Coach Bob Todd came to Granata’s defense with this gem:

“They’re making baseballs in China now, not Haiti, and some pitchers are having trouble with the seams on their breaking pitches,” Todd said. “We’ve seen this over the course of the season.”