The Cal State Fullerton Titans baseball team represents

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

. Along with the other CSUF athletic teams, the baseball team participates in the Big West Conference. Since its early days, Titan Baseball has been considered an elite program in college baseball, making 18

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

appearances and winning four national championships (1979, 1984, 1995, and 2004). The Titans play their home games on Fullerton's campus at

Goodwin Field Goodwin Field is a 3,500-seat baseball park in the western United States, located in Fullerton, California. On the campus of California State University, Fullerton, it is primarily the home field of the four-time national champion CSUF Titans o ...

and are currently coached by

Jason Dietrich Jason Edward Dietrich (born November 15, 1972) is a baseball coach and former pitcher, who is the current head baseball coach of the Cal State Fullerton Titans. He played college baseball at Santa Ana College before transferring to Pepperdin ...

Conference membership history

*1975–1976:

Pacific Coast Athletic Association The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

(PCAA) *1977–1984: SCBA *1985–1989: PCAA *1990–present:

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

History

1979 national championship

1984 national championship

The Return of Augie Garrido

1995 national championship

George Horton era

Horton played for Garrido in 1975 and 1976, before beginning his coaching career. Horton began his coaching career immediately after the 1976 season, but left

Cerritos College Cerritos College is a public community college in Norwalk, California. It offers degrees and certificates in 87 areas of study in nine divisions. History The college was founded in 1955. It was named after Rancho Los Cerritos, a local ...

after 1990 to return to Fullerton as an assistant under Garrido. He would remain in that position, until after the 1996 season. When Garrido left Fullerton for the second time, George Horton was named head coach of the baseball program. The Titans finished 39–24–1 in Horton's first year, and 47–17 winning the Big West South title in his second year. Even though he had success in first two seasons, the Titans failed to make it to Omaha. In 1999, Horton led the Titans to their first 50 win season since 1995, and made his first appearance as head coach in the

. The Titans lost their opening round game to

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, but bounced back to beat

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...

to give Horton his first career win at the CWS. That would be the end of the road though for the 1999 Titans, as they lost their next game to Florida St. and were eliminated from the CWS. Horton would go on to lead the Titans back to Omaha again in 2001 and 2003, but did not reach the championship round.

2004 national championship

In 2004, Horton and Titans had an up and down regular season, but breezed through conference play. The Titans compiled an overall record of 36–20, including an impressive 19–2 record in conference play. The Titans were awarded a host regional site in the 2004 NCAA Division I baseball tournament and the No. 2 seed at their regional. In regional play, the Titans won their opening round game, but were forced into the loser's bracket after losing to the No. 4 seed, Pepperdine, 7–6. Facing elimination, the Titans beat No. 1 seed Arizona St. 5–0, who was all the No. 7 national seed that year. In the championship round, Fullerton left little doubt, defeating Pepperdine 15–1 and 16–3 to advance to the super regional round of play. Fullerton hosted

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

in the super regional round after Tulane won the

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

regional. Once again, Fullerton completely dominated the games. They advanced to the College World Series after winning, 9–0 and 10–7. In the College World Series, the Titans advanced through the winner's bracket beating

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = G ...

2–0 and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

6–3. After Carolina advanced through the loser's bracket, they would have to defeat the Titans twice to advance to the championship round. The Gamecocks won the first contest 5–3, but the Titans fought back the next day to win the second game 4–0. Fullerton advanced to the championship round for the first time since winning it all in 1995. The championship round saw Horton face off against his mentor and former Fullerton coach Augie Garrido. Garrido led Texas back to the championship after previously winning it all with the Longhorns in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

. The Titans won the first game in the best-of-three series, 6–4. On Sunday June 27, 2004, the Titans defeated the Longhorns 3–2 to claim their 4th national title. The Titans finished the season 47–22 overall.

Horton leaves for Oregon

After the 2004 national championship, Horton coached the Titans for 3 more season. After the 2007 season, Horton left his alma mater to become head coach of the Oregon Ducks. Oregon did not field a baseball team from 1982 until they played their first game in 2009. Oregon reportedly made Horton one of the highest paid coaches in Division I baseball at the time. Fullerton was left in a similar situation after losing Garrido to Texas after the 1996 season. During his 11 seasons as head coach of the Titans, Horton compiled a record of 490–212–1.

Dave Serrano era

After losing another great coach to a school that offered a better financial situation, Fullerton was back in the same position it was 11 years earlier. A program that was only 3 years removed from its fourth national title was once again in search of a new head coach. Once again Fullerton went after another former player. In early September 2007, Dave Serrano became just the fourth head coach of the Cal St. Fullerton Titans baseball program. Serrano also played under Augie Garrido during his first tenure as Titans coach, and then followed a similar path as Horton. He began his coaching career at Cerritos College as an assistant, and after a short stint at Tennessee as an assistant George Horton hired him at Fullerton. Serrano became Horton's top assistant and remained in that position until 2004. In 2004, he left Fullerton to become head coach at

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two ** ''University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme * Universal Century, one of the t ...

. After four seasons with the Anteaters, Serrano departed to return to Fullerton. Serrano had just led the Anteaters to their first ever College World Series. In his first year as head coach, Serrano posted a 37–19 mark during the regular season. That mark was good enough to earn the Titans the No. 5 national seed in the

2008 NCAA Division I baseball tournament The 2008 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was held from May 30 through June 25, 2008 and was part of the 2008 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64 NCAA Division I college baseball teams were selected out of an eligible 286 teams on May 26 ...

. After winning the Fullerton regional, the Titans hosted Stanford during the Super Regional round of play. The Cardinals won the first game by a single run, and went on to eliminate the Titans the following day. Overall Serrano posted a 41–22 mark during his first year as head coach of the Titans. Serrano's improved on the 2008 season success during the 2009 campaign. Although they finished second in the Big West in 2009, the Titans still finished the regular season with a mark of 42–14. That record was good enough to earn the Titans the No. 2 national seed during the 2009 NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The Titans breezed through the Fullerton regional, winning it in 3 games by scores of 18–2, 7–4, and 16–3.

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

traveled to Fullerton during the super regional round, and once again Fullerton had no problem with the Cardinals. Fullerton eliminated Louisville in two games with scores of 12–0 and 11–2. Serrano earned his first trip to the College World Series as Titans head coach, and his second overall as a head coach. The Titans failed to meet expectation in Omaha though. They were quickly eliminated losing their first two games. They lost their opening round game to

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...

10–6, and lost in an elimination game to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

7–5. The Titans completed the 2009 season with a 47–16 overall record.

Serrano leaves for Tennessee

Serrano was announced as the

Tennessee Volunteers baseball The Tennessee Volunteers baseball team represents the University of Tennessee in NCAA Division I college baseball. Along with most other Tennessee athletic teams, the baseball team participates in the Eastern division of the Southeastern Conferen ...

head coach on June 15, 2011. He became the 24th head coach of Tennessee baseball, replacing Todd Raleigh. Much like Garrido and Horton, it is believed that Serrano left for a better financial situation. According to reports, Serrano made approximately $140,000 at Fullerton, while Tennessee was reportedly offering around $500,000. During his 4 years as head coach, the Titans compiled a 175–73 record overall.

Rick Vanderhook era

On June 24, 2011, CSUF named Rick Vanderhook head baseball coach, the fifth coach in the program's esteemed history. He played on the Titan's 1984 national championship team and was an assistant coach from 1985–88 and 1991–2007, at which point he departed to become an assistant coach at UCLA. Three years later, Vanderhook accepted the job on a three-year contract at Fullerton. Coach Vanderhook's accomplishments to date include NCAA Tournament appearances in almost every year (except 2019) he has been the head coach, the program's second highest single season winning percentage at .836 in 2013, and guiding the 2015 club back to Omaha thus ending a 5-year drought that was the longest lapse in Titans representation at the CWS in 40 years. In 2017, CSUF made its 18th appearance at the CWS, 2nd in the past three years, after winning the Stanford regional and beating Big West rivals CSULB at the Long Beach super regional. Vanderhook retired after the 2021 season.

Goodwin Field

Goodwin Field is a baseball stadium in Fullerton, California named for Jerry and Merilyn Goodwin, who donated $1 million for renovations. It was opened on April 18, 1992 with a two-game sweep of Loyola Marymount.

Head coaches

*''Records updated through end of the 2022 season''

Year-by-year NCAA Division I results

Records taken from the Cal. St. Fullerton baseball archive.

National championships

Fullerton in the NCAA tournament

*The

NCAA Division I baseball tournament The NCAA Division I Baseball Championship is held each year from May through June and features 64 college baseball teams in the United States, culminating in the eight-team Men's College World Series at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Neb ...

started in 1947. *The

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informati ...

of the tournament has changed through the years. *Fullerton began Division I baseball in 1975. *The Titans' all-time NCAA record is 162–88 (.648) *The Titans' Regional record is 106–43 (.711) *The Titans' Super Regional record is 21–14 (.600) *The Titans' are 34–29 (.540) in Omaha

Player awards

As of the 2021 season, there have been 70 MLB players who previously played for the university.

All-College World Series

The following is a listing of Cal State Fullerton players that were selected to the all-tournament teams during the College World Series.
^ denotes player was named MOP of the College World Series *

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

:Dan Hanggie (3b) :Tony Hudson^ (p) :Kurt Kingsolver (c) :Matt Vejar (of) *

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast As ...

:Bob Caffrey (c) :Eddie Delzer (p) :John Fishel^ (of) :Blaine Larker (3b) * 1988 :Jim Osborn (of) *

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

:Phil Nevin^ (3b) :James Popoff (p) :Chris Powell (of) :Nate Rodriquez (ss) *

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...

:Mark Kotsay (of) *

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

:Mark Kotsay^ (of) :Brian Loyd (c) :Tony Martinez (3b) :Ted Silva (p) *

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

:David Bacani (2b) *

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

:P. J. Pilittere (dh) :Justin Turner (ss) *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

:Felipe Garcia (dh) :Ricky Romero (p) :Jason Windsor^ (p) * 2006 :David Cooper (dh) :Danny Dorn (of) :Justin Turner (2b) *

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

:Timmy Richards (ss)

Golden Spikes Award

The following is a listing of Cal State Fullerton players that received the

Golden Spikes Award The Golden Spikes Award is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. The award, created by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, was first presented in 1978. It is given ...

. *1979 :Tim Wallach *1992 :Phil Nevin *1995 :Mark Kotsay

National Player of the Year awards

The following is a listing of Cal State Fullerton players who were named national player of the year by various publications. *1979 :Tim Wallach –

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

*1992 :Phil Nevin –

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form ...

*1995 :Mark Kotsay –

Rotary Smith Award The Rotary Smith Award was created in 1988 to honor the most outstanding college baseball player of the year. The award was founded by the Greater Houston Sports Association. In 1996, the Rotary Club of Houston joined the award committee. Prior t ...

& Collegiate Baseball *2004 :Kurt Suzuki –

Brooks Wallace Award The Brooks Wallace Award is an award given by the College Baseball Foundation (CBF) to the best college baseball shortstop of the year. The award has been given annually since 2004. Until 2008 the award was presented to the nation's most outstandi ...

*2006 :Wes Roemer – Collegiate Baseball

Stadiums

On April 18, 1992,

(then known as the third Titan Field) became the home field for Cal State Fullerton Titans baseball. It is the third on-campus park to serve as the Titans' home field. The second on-campus stadium, Titan Field, was built around 1970 on the site of Goodwin Field, but with home plate located where the left field foul pole is now located. The

Cal State Fullerton Titans football The Cal State Fullerton Titans football program represented California State University, Fullerton from the 1970 through 1992 seasons. The Titans originally competed as a member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association from 1970 to 1973 b ...

team also played at the stadium from 1980 to 1982. The team's first on-campus field, Original Titan Field, was located to the west of Titan House, which is southeast of Goodwin Field. Home plate was laid around 1965 in the southeast corner of a field plowed from citrus groves. Throughout the team's history, the Titans also played home games at Amerige Park (1992) and Anaheim's Boysen Park. In 1983, the Titans also played at junior college fields at

Fullerton College Fullerton College (FC) is a public community college in Fullerton, California. The college is part of the California Community Colleges System and the North Orange County Community College District. Established in 1913, it is the oldest commu ...

Orange Coast College Orange Coast College (OCC) is a public community college in Costa Mesa in Orange County, California. It was founded in 1947, with its first classes opening in the fall of 1948. It provides Associate of Art and Associate of Science degrees, cer ...

and

Santa Ana College Santa Ana College is a public community college in Santa Ana, California. History In 1915, Santa Ana Junior College opened its doors to 25 students as a department of Santa Ana High School. It was the second community college founded in Oran ...

during the installation of lights at Titan Field.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cal State Fullerton Titans Baseball