This past week did not exactly get off to the greatest of starts. We were fresh off another road series loss at Texas and searching for our team personality. A players-only meeting was called for Tuesday afternoon before the game against San Diego. The meeting was designed for any Titan player to voice his opinion or thoughts about our struggles so far. Ultimately we left the meeting with a new meaning of team togetherness.

Tuesday March 9

We were all excited to test our new mentality right away against the Toreros of San Diego. Just like Coach Horton said, “This is the best collective team personality you guys have showed all year…” Unfortunately we still lost the ball game  7-4, which left all of us scratching our heads.

The Titans looked for revenge as the Minnesota Golden Gophers traveled to Fullerton this weekend. Minnesota was one of only two teams to take a weekend series from the Titans in 2003. It was time for them to leave the dome and the turf behind and see some West Coast baseball. The Gophers were hot, fresh off their tournament sweep against the likes of Nebraska, Notre Dame and Florida State.

Friday March 12

Titan ace Jason Windsor was lights out as usual, allowing just one run on six hits en route to a complete-game win. Windsor finally received some run support led by sophomore Justin Turner’s three-hit, two-RBI performance. It was exciting to see our new team formula pay off. Titans win 7-1.

Saturday March 13

This ballgame was a classic dog fight between two quality baseball programs. The Gophers grabbed an early 4-0 lead off Titan lefty Ricky Romero. The Titan offense rallied against All-American Glen Perkins and took over the lead 6-4 through five innings. Romero was a great competitor all night as he settled in and held the Gophers scoreless until the ninth. Oh yeah, the ninth. There is a reason why we play nine innings in this wonderful game. We watched a 7-4 lead disappear in the top half of the ninth and could not respond fast enough as we lost a heartbreaker 8-7.
 

Sunday March 14

We were not about to carry over the loss from Saturday night into Sunday’s contest.  We were not about to let the Gophers take the series in our house. We sure enough stumbled out of the gates due to some defensive mistakes and terrible officiating as usual. Quickly we overcame a 2-1 lead in the sixth. Freshman Blake Davis’ two-out, two-run double released the tension as the Titans wrapped up the series with a 10-2 victory.

I know an 11-12 record is not what any of us here in Fullerton expect or are used to, but our new team personality will give us a chance to compete with anyone and overcome any obstacle within the game. The Titans hit the road again as they travel to Pepperdine on Wednesday and hop on another bus to Fresno State for the weekend.

P.J. Pilittere

(photo courtesy of Cal State Fullerton Media Relations Office)