The Titans are on a 5-game losing streak, and are 3-6 in the Big West Conference
Remember when Cal State Fullerton Baseball was preseason ranked #1? It’s been a completely different story this season for the Cal State Fullerton Titans, as they are having a tough time repeating the dominant season they had last year.
The Big West Conference should have been another way for the team to pad their record, but it’s been the opposite, as they are continuing to fall in the standings, and have yet to generate any good momentum.
They opened the conference with a 2-1 series win over UC Davis, but have since fallen to UC Santa Barbara before being swept by Cal Poly. The Mustangs sit at the top of the conference at 11-1, and remain almost unbeatable. UCSB is near the bottom at 4-7 entering Saturday.
After their 11-9 win in extra innings against the Gauchos, the Titans have crossed the plate 6 times in their following five games. The inconsistent offense has cost them a few crucial games through the season.
The team suffered a 4-3 loss in 13 innings of play Friday night. Fullerton was up 3-2 for most of the game before giving up a solo run in the 8th to Cal Poly, eventually forcing the game into extra innings. Thomas Eshelman started the game and went 7 solid innings, giving up 8 hits and 2 earned runs in the game. JD Davis finished up the game, going 4.1 innings, and gave up the eventual game-winner in the 13th.
The Titans were on a 4-game win streak that ended on the 11-9 win against UCSB, but have followed that with a 5-game losing streak including the last 2 games against Santa Barbara and the 3-game sweep at the hands of Cal Poly.
The offense has not been able to generate a spark lately, as most of the games are resulting in tight pitching from either side. Saturday was no exception, as the Titans were played by Poly. CSF has given up 3 runs or fewer in 7 of their last 10 contests, but the offense has only generated 4 or more runs in 4 of the last 10.
Fullerton is sporting four different batters over a .300 average in conference play, but have yet to string their play together. The team has combined for 31RBIs and Matt Chapman is the only player on the team with at least one home run.
The conference schedule is just beginning, and there’s no reason to press the panic button yet for the Titans. They will be playing Hawaii in their next Big West matchup in about a week, and look to move up higher in the standings.
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