NCAA BASEBALL PAIRINGS : Titans Get Berth, but No Respect

FULLERTON — There were some minor grumblings, but considering the alternative, Cal State Fullerton was just glad to gain an at-large berth in the NCAA baseball tournament Monday.

The Titans will play Ohio State at 9 a.m. (PDT) Thursday in the first round of the South I Regional at Baton Rouge, La.

Defending national-champion Louisiana State (48-14) is the host school and top-seeded team in the region and will face sixth-seeded Providence (28-21) at 5:30 p.m. Second-seeded South Alabama (44-14) will play fifth-seeded Tulane (38-22) at 1 p.m.

Cal State Long Beach, Pepperdine, Cal State Northridge and UCLA are also among 48 teams that gained berths. Stanford, Arizona, Miami, Texas, Florida, Clemson and Wichita State were awarded No. 1 seeds in the six-team, double-elimination regionals. Winners advance to the College World Series May 29-June 6 at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha.

Fullerton (38-15) was ranked seventh nationally in Baseball America’s final regular-season poll Monday but was seeded only third in the South I Region. Ohio State, which won the Big 10 Conference’s regular-season championship and finished 38-19, was seeded fourth.

The selection marked the Titans’ 14th regional berth in the past 18 years. Their last trip came in 1990, when they won the Central Region title at Austin, Tex.

Fullerton coaches and players were confident they would make the tournament, but after last season--when they won a share of the Big West Conference championship but were snubbed by the NCAA selection committee--they didn’t consider themselves a lock.

The suspense ended early Monday, as the Titans were placed in the third of eight regions announced on ESPN’s nationally televised pairings show.

“There wasn’t as much anxiety getting through it as there was last year,” said George Horton, Fullerton associate head coach. “We felt we had a much stronger case this year than last.”

Still, some Titans didn’t feel they got a fair shake, noting that Stanford (37-21) and Arizona (34-21-1) both had worse records than Fullerton but were awarded top seeds, Stanford in the South II and Arizona in the West.

“I’m obviously happy to be in--we’ve seen what the committee can do--but it’s a little confusing,” Fullerton catcher Jason Moler said. “Stanford and Arizona were top seeds, we had a better record than them and won two of three at their parks. It’s baffling.”

Fullerton is one of three Big West teams in the 48-team field, joining conference-champion Cal State Long Beach and Fresno State. The 49ers (34-19-1) play Southwest Louisiana (38-21) in the Central Region at Austin, Tex., Friday, and the Bulldogs (37-18) play Pepperdine (40-10-1) in the West Region at Tucson Friday.

In addition to Stanford and Arizona, four other Pacific 10 schools--UCLA, California, Arizona State and Washington--landed berths. The Bruins (34-24) play Oklahoma (38-21) in the Mideast Region at Starkville, Miss., Thursday. Arizona State (32-22) will play Cal State Northridge (37-14-1) in the Midwest Region at Wichita, Kan., Friday.

For Titan Coach Augie Garrido, the South I Region has a familiar ring. He took a Fullerton team to a 1987 regional at New Orleans, where the Titans lost to Southern and then defeated Tulane, but were eliminated by Louisiana State, 7-3.

The Tigers, ranked third nationally, are coming off a 12-1 victory over Florida in Sunday’s Southeastern Conference tournament championship game and figure to be the favorite at Baton Rouge.

“But we’re not going in intimidated at all,” Moler said. “We know we can beat anyone in the country.”

Fullerton and Ohio State met once this season, with the Titans winning a nonconference game, 6-4, at Amerige Park on March 24. But neither team used their best pitcher that day.

The Buckeyes likely will throw ace right-hander Scott Klingenbeck. Klingenbeck was a member of Team U.S.A. last summer but has been inconsistent this season, going 6-7 with a 4.71 earned-run average. The Titans likely will counter with right-hander James Popoff (11-2, 3.08 ERA).

“We have the opportunity we wanted, and now it’s up to us to make the most of it,” Garrido said.