Cal State Fullerton Titans Final '07 Rank: 6 38-25

The Titans finished last season with a good but not great 38-25 overall record. They had an impressive start to the season, but fell out of national rankings the second half of the year, stumbling down the stretch; the Titans were bested their final four conference series and 11 of their last final 17 regular season games. In fact, if it weren’t for CSF’s accomplished baseball history which included 14 previous trips to Omaha, there is a chance the Navy and Orange from Fullerton wouldn’t have received an at-large bid and would have sat the postseason out. Not to say the team was wasn’t without merit as they did have series wins over Rice, Wichita State, Arizona, UCLA and Long Beach State which propelled them in the postseason and onward to Omaha and the College World Series.

Gone in ’08 will be ace righty Wes Roemer who was the 50th overall pick in the in the 2007 draft and outfielder Clark Hardman (.380, 5, 47) who drove the offense. Those are big cleats to fill, however none larger than those of departing head coach George Horton who left during the off season to resurrect the University of Oregon’s baseball program. Taking Horton’s spot in the Titan dugout will be Dave Serrano, who returns to Fullerton after earning national coach of the year honors from Baseball America following his piloting of UC Irvine to their first College World Series appearance ever last year. Serrano was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for Horton and the Titans for the 1997 through 2004 seasons and had left after the Titans' fourth national championship to become head coach at UCI, where he compiled a 114-66-1 (.633) record over three seasons.

The biggest names returning for action between the lines will be senior right-hander Jeff Kaplan and sophomore outfielder Josh Fellhauer. Kaplan went 11-3 with a 3.31 ERA and 83 K’s and is the heir apparent to take over Roemer’s spot as the Friday starter. Fellhauer batted .304 with the promise of power and speed which made him a highly touted recruit out of Rancho Cucamonga High School. He’s the only returning Titan who batted over in 2007, but the cupboard is far from being empty for Serrano. Outfielder Chris Jones, who transferred to CSF after his freshman season at Texas A&M, hit .272 with 15 doubles. After missing last season due a torn ACL, junior outfielder Jared Clark will be back to contribute an additional offensive boost as well as veteran leadership. In ’06 Clark batted .277 with five homeruns and 30 RBI. Two freshmen who seem destined for success as Titans are infielder Christian Colon and Gary Brown who both turned down professional contracts to play at Fullerton. Each are described as high energy players who could factor in CSF’s success their first year.

Rejoining Kaplan on the hill will be senior Adam Jorgenson who led the Titans in appearances (28) and saves (8) as the team’s closer with a few scattered starts. His ERA jumped from 1.48 to 4.29 from the previous year (an unfortunately easy task to accomplish when pitching limited innings), but did continue to show great strikeout to walk prowess which makes him a valuable member of the team. Jorgenson is slated to join Kaplan in the starting rotation this season, leaving the bullpen duties to Loyola Marymount transfer junior Brian Wilson (5.71, 4-7 at LMU). A two year starter for the Lions, Wilson is being groomed to take over the closer role and has impressed head skipper Serrano with his arsenal of pitches. Other pitchers contending for starter roles are junior Cory Arbiso (2.65 ERA in 10 appearances in ‘06) who was originally recruited by Serrano when he was last at CSF, sophomore Michael Morrison (6.08, 5-3) and much ballyhooed 6’4”, 210 pound freshman Daniel Renken who was recruited by 21 other schools. JC transfer Bryant Hollingsworth was the ace for Riverside Community College’s championship team and another JC transfer, Brad Barragar, who pitched two seasons for the Golden West College Rustlers, was drafted in the 8th round in 2005 by the Texas Rangers.

Serrano should be able to fill Horton’s role on the bench, but the voids left by Roemer and Hardman may be too vast to overcome. New and young players will have to develop quickly and play fundamental Serrano-ball if the Titans wish to duplicate last year’s success.