2013 Fullerton Super Regional

(capsules compiled by Sean Ryan, Phil Stanton, Zachary Kerr)

5. Cal State Fullerton

Fullerton, California

Automatic bid - won Big West title, won Fullerton Regional

2013 record: 23-4, 51-8 (first in Big West)

Head coach: Rick Vanderhook (Trinity University, 2003)

Record at school: 87-29, two years

Overall record: 87-29, 17 years

Assistant Coaches: Mike Kirby, Jason Dietrich, Chad Baum, Shane Costa

Team offense: .285 BA, 367 R, 35 HR, .406 SLG%, .386 OBP%, 74-103 SB

Team pitching: 2.47 ERA, 529 IP, 446 H, 83 BB, 413 K

Top hitters: Michael Lorenzen (.335/7/53/12-18 SB), Carlos Lopez (.335/4/15-19 SB), J.D. Davis (.327/4/49), Chad Wallach (.303/2/32), Matt Chapman (.291/5/37), Richy Pedroza (.270/1/24/10-14 SB).

Top pitchers: Thomas Eshelman (12-2, 1.59 ERA, 107.2 IP, 80 H, 2 BB, 78 K), Justin Garza (12-0, 1.92 ERA, 108 IP, 79 H, 16 BB, 89 K), Grahamm Wiest (9-3, 3.27 ERA, 104.2 IP, 94 H, 13 BB, 76 K), Tyler Peitzmeier (3-0, 0.59 ERA, 30.2 IP, 21 H, 4 BB, 24 K), Michael Lorenzen (3-0, 19 SV, 1.99 ERA, 22.2 IP, 17 H, 4 BB, 20 K), J.D. Davis (4-1, 2.14 ERA, 4 SV, 21 IP, 16 H, 6 BB, 16 K), Koby Gauna (4-1, 2.60 ERA), 55.1 IP, 49 H, 7 BB, 33 K).

Last NCAA Appearance: 2012 (1-2 at Eugene Regional)

Notes: Cal State Fullerton yielded all of two runs in three wins to capture the Fullerton Regional and advance to the Super Regionals. In the second game of the Regional, Justin Garza tossed 8.1 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out nine – he was named the Regional’s Most Outstanding Player. The Titans made the NCAA tourney for the 22nd straight year, third-longest in the nation – Miami (41) and FSU (35) lead the way – and are in the Super Regionals for the 11th time the 15 years of the format. Rick Vanderhook (CBI feature) is in his second year as head coach and 23rd overall – he spent nearly 25 years as an assistant to Augie Garrido, Larry Cochell, George Horton and Dave Serrano and also played for the Titans – he also assisted John Savage at UCLA for three years prior to becoming head coach at Fullerton. Fullerton and UCLA will meet for the third time in the Super Regionals, with each team winning once. The Titans lead the nation in WHIP (1.00), K/BB ratio (4.98) and walks per nine innings (1.41) and rank third in ERA (2.47). Freshmen Thomas Eshelman (first in nation in WHIP at 0.76) and Justin Garza (ninth in WHIP at 0.88) have combined for a 24-2 record and 167 strikeouts and only 18 walks. Two-way player Michael Lorenzen (CBI feature) has 23 extra-base hits and 19 saves (fourth in the nation in saves). Catcher Chad Wallach is the son of former major leaguer Tim Wallach, and infielder Jake Jefferies is the son of former major leaguer Gregg Jefferies.

UCLA Bruins

Los Angeles, California

At-large bid from Pac-12, won Los Angeles Regional

2013 record: 21-9, 42-17 (third in Pac 12)

Head coach: John Savage (Nevada, 1991)

Record at school: 317-224, nine years

Overall record: 405-308-1, 12 years

Assistant Coaches: Rex Peters, T.J. Bruce, Jake Silverman

Team offense: .252 BA, 285 R, 19 HR, .337 SLG%, .360 OBP%, 65-106 SB

Team pitching: 2.75 ERA, 537 IP, 434 H, 150 BB, 420 K

Top hitters: Kevin Kramer (.285/3/40), Pat Gallagher (.272/1/17), Eric Filia (.266/1/24), Pat Valaika (.260/5/42), Trent Chatterton (.260/0/10), Brian Carroll (.259/0/20/29-36 SB).

Top pitchers: David Berg (6-0, 20 SV, 0.81 ERA, 67 IP, 7 BB, 69 K), James Kaprielian (0-0, 1.46 ERA, 37 IP, 19 H, 21 BB, 50 K), Zack Weiss (2-1, 2.37 ERA, 38 IP, 33 H, 12 BB, 27 K), Nick Vander Tuig (11-4, 2.51 ERA, 107.2 IP, 91 H, 17 BB, 77 K), Adam Plutko (8-3, 2.51 ERA, 104 IP, 78 H, 26 BB, 75 K), Grant Watson (8-3, 3.22 ERA, 86.2 IP, 89 H, 15 BB, 52 K).

Last NCAA Appearance: 2012 (3-0 at L.A. Regional, 2-0 at L.A. Super Regional, 1-2 at College World Series)

Notes: The Bruins won three straight games, allowing only seven runs, in taking the L.A. Regional for the second straight year. UCLA is in the Super Regionals for the third time in the past four years – the previous two resulted in trips to the College World Series (2010, 2012). Overall, it’s UCLA’s fourth Super Regional trip in the past seven years. The Bruins and Titans have met twice in the Super Regionals, with each team winning a series. Pat Gallagher went 5 for 9 with two runs and four RBI and was named the Regional Most Outstanding Player. Overall, UCLA reached the NCAA tourney for the seventh time in eight years. Coach John Savage was the CollegeBaseballInsider.com National Coach of the Year in 2010 (he also was a finalist for CBI coach of the year in 2004 when he coached UC Irvine). The Bruins boast one of the best pitching staffs in the country – three solid starters in Nick Vander Tuig, Adam Plutko and Grant Watson one of the nation’s best closers in David Berg (CBI Feature on UCLA). Berg had a scoreless inning streak of 37 innings snapped in the last game of the season, and the sidearmer has been downright filthy: he’s first in the nation in ERA (0.81), second (to Fullerton’s Thomas Eshelman) in WHIP (0.78), third in saves (20) and fourth in K/BB ratio (9.86)   limiting hitters to a .190 average and striking out one per inning. Vander Tuig, whose brother Ryan played baseball at San Jose State, leads the team in wins. Opponents hit only .152 off reliever James Kaprielian. No Bruins regular hits better than .300 as the team averages just under five runs a game. Shane Zeile is the son of former major leaguer Todd Zeile. Cody Regis tied the school record with 20 postseason RBI.