Garrido Pleased With His Titans

Cal State Fullerton baseball Coach Augie Garrido said he talked to his team quite a bit last week about keeping its run production “in a closer relationship” with its number of hits.

“That worked out fine when we got 20 runs on 20 hits on Saturday, but getting three runs on only three hits Sunday was stretching it a bit,” Garrido said with a laugh.

Garrido, however, had plenty of reasons to be pleased after a three-game sweep over Nevada Las Vegas. The Titans won by scores of 16-1, 20-1 and 3-0 against a team that had come into the series with the Big West Conference’s fourth-best hitting.

Fullerton is 31-8 and alone in first place in the Big West with 9-3 record after San Jose State beat Long Beach State in two of three weekend games. Fullerton and Long Beach State entered the weekend tied with 6-3 conference records.

Fullerton moved up in both college baseball rankings with the sweep. The Titans are ranked second by Collegiate Baseball, behind Georgia Tech, and third by Baseball America, behind Florida State and Georgia Tech.

Garrido couldn’t hope for much better pitching than he received in the UNLV series from Mike Parisi (8-2), Matt Wagner (9-0) and Dan Ricabal (4-0). Parisi gave up five hits Friday, Wagner three hits through seven innings Saturday and Ricabal five hits in a complete game Sunday.

“Our pitchers really stayed focused,” Garrido said. “This series confirmed the way we feel about our club. Our pitching is very effective.”

It was the second consecutive solid effort by Ricabal, who had pitched well through seven innings in the third game against Long Beach State a week earlier after struggling. “I feel very good about Ricabal right now,” Garrido said. “It’s hard to develop a third starter who is as solid as your first two and I think we’re getting there with Dan and (Chad) Rolish.”

Garrido continued to be pleased with Dante Powell, the preseason All-American who has raised his average to .298 and leads the team in runs batted in with 36. Powell drove in all three runs in Sunday’s game with a bases-loaded triple.

“He’s getting much more relaxed at the plate now and is having more fun,” Garrido said. “He doesn’t seem to be as bothered now by the high expectations and the outside pressures.”

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Cristi Clifford is only a sophomore at Fullerton, but she will be making her second appearance in the NCAA gymnastics championships this weekend in Salt Lake City. “My goal now is to qualify four years in a row since I was able to make it my freshman year,” she said.

Clifford finished 28th in the all-around at the nationals last year. Her top scores included a 9.775 on the uneven bars and a 9.725 in floor exercise.

Clifford, who was seventh in the all-around in the NCAA West Regional, is one of two Titan gymnasts in the competition that begins Thursday and ends Saturday. Celeste Delia, fourth in the all-around in the regional, will finish her college career in the event.

Clifford came dangerously close to a serious injury in the regionals in what has become her strongest event, the uneven bars. In warmups the day before the competition, Clifford hit her chin on the bar on her release move. The cut required seven stitches.

“Coach (Lynn Rogers) had me go right back on the bars and do it again, once he saw it wasn’t serious because he knew if I didn’t do it right away again, I might be more concerned about it,” Clifford said. “I was still a little nervous about doing the move in the event, but I was able to block it out. I had done it for what seemed like a million times before without any problem.”

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Two guards on the Fullerton women’s basketball team, Shayla Bradshaw and Kim Cram, will be trying out in Tempe, Ariz., this weekend for the West team for this summer’s U.S. Olympic Festival. The event is scheduled July 1-10 in St. Louis.

Titan Coach Debbie Ayres is hopeful that Bradshaw, in particular, will get serious consideration. “This will be Kim’s first year of trying out, so it will be more of a learning experience for her, but I hope the selection committee will take a close look at Shayla this year.”

Bradshaw was the team’s second-leading scorer as a sophomore this past season. She averaged 16.3 points, second to Autumn Hollyfield’s 17.9 average. “Autumn isn’t eligible to try out this time since she’s beyond the 20-year-old limit they have for selections in basketball,” Ayres said.

Titan Notes

Fullerton still hasn’t announced any basketball commitments in the signing period that began Wednesday. . . . Titan distance runner Steve Frisone set a school record in the 5,000 meters with his time of 14:18.4 at the Mt. San Antonio Relays. . . . The Titan softball team won three of four games at Hawaii over the weekend, knocking Hawaii out of first place. Pitcher Jennifer Mortensen sparked the Titans with back-to-back victories. She pitched two one-hit shutouts, the second in relief. She is 13-14 for the season with a 1.94 ERA. The Titans are 20-25 for the season, 9-9 in the Big West.