Stanford May Have It All in West Regional

Stanford got the West Regional site. Now the question is what else will the Cardinal get?

With Cal State Fullerton losing in the Big West Conference tournament and struggling at the end of the conference season, Stanford would seem the logical choice as the regional’s No. 1 team. The Cardinal won 16 consecutive games to end the season and is ranked No. 7 by Baseball America. Also, Stanford’s ratings power index, the tool the NCAA uses to determine strength of schedule, should be high.

In a perfect world, Pacific 10 Southern Division champion USC would be the West’s No. 1 team, but the NCAA won’t put two highly seeded teams from the same conference together when it announces the pairings Monday. That means USC will be shipped, and the Trojans believe Texas will be the destination.

Three regional sites--Texas, Texas Tech and Alabama--will probably have top-seeded teams brought in, and USC will be one of them. The others could be Miami, No. 6 in the ratings; and No. 8 Florida State. The dark horse is . . . Fullerton.

The Titans will play three games at Miami this weekend and could get a top spot with a strong performance. Early in the season, the Miami series looked like a warmup for regional play, but now it offers Fullerton a chance at redemption. A good showing would boost the Titans’ RPI, which already includes a victory over UCLA, two over USC, a split against Stanford, a sweep of Texas, and a victory over No. 13 Cal State Northridge.

Look for Northridge to go to Palo Alto, maybe as a No. 3, and Nevada Las Vegas as well. Stanford second baseman Brian Dallimore is the son of UNLV Coach Fred Dallimore, and the NCAA probably will permit that family reunion.

*

Different sport, same bubble for Santa Clara. The Broncos lucked into an NCAA tournament bid in basketball and are trying to do it in baseball.

The West Coast Conference champion Broncos face Western Athletic Conference champion Northridge in a play-in tonight at Santa Clara, with another game--and possibly two--on Saturday.

Santa Clara (39-20) hopes to get in by defeating the Matadors but could also earn an at-large bid.

Two things work in the Broncos’ favor. First, they were in a similar situation last year at 35-20 but weren’t picked. Second, the NCAA would love to have them playing at Stanford and bringing their fans.

Those teams drew more than 1,000 during a midweek game at Stanford on May 7, and the regional would benefit at the gate with Santa Clara playing an early game on the opening day, May 23, and then Stanford playing at night.

*

Rumors were flying around the Big West tournament last weekend about a replacement for Loyola Marymount Coach Jody Robinson, who resigned May 10 but will continue to coach until June 30.

The school has been quiet about its list of candidates, but speculation is that Fullerton assistant George Horton is at the top of it.

USC assistant Frank Cruz is also believed to be a candidate. He coached at University High and would have good recruiting ties on the Westside.

Others believed to be in the running are former Chapman Coach Mike Weathers and UC Santa Barbara assistant Tim Montez. The school is accepting applications until June 5.

*

The final invitations for USA Baseball’s spring camp in Millington, Tenn., were delivered, increasing the number of candidates for the Olympic team to 45. Included in the last 10 spots were Jim Parque of UCLA and Adam Kennedy and Robert Fick of Northridge.

Fullerton has three players in contention, with Mark Kotsay a virtual lock. Jeremy Giambi, surprisingly, was not invited, despite having a better season than teammates Jack Jones and Brian Loyd, who were.

Other area players include USC’s Jacque Jones, UCLA’s Troy Glaus and Pepperdine’s Randy Wolf.

The team will be cut to 25 by early June.