Baseball and Softball Special Issue - Monday, March 3, 2014

Special Issue

MONDAY, M A RCH 3, 2014

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ANDERSON FIELDRICK VANDERHOOK

STADIUM 6COACHES 5

The third year coach is looking to win his first College World Series and break the drought

MATT CHAPMAN MISSY TAUKEIAHO

ATHLETES 4 ATHLETES 4

The junior infielder is looking to capture a national title for CSUF and play in the majors

The native of Rancho Cucamonga is happy to be back home and playing for the Titans

The softball facility got its name in 2006 from families that made financial contributions

INSIDE

Junior infielder Matt Chapman has taken more of a leadership role this season after losing key players from last season to the 2013 MLB draft.

Sophomore third baseman Missy Taukeiaho has sparkled in her first season in a Titan uniform. She returns home as a transfer from Washington.

AND

THE

BASEBALLSOFTBALL

ISSUE

HISTORYPAGE 2 MARCH 3, 2014THE DAILY TITAN MONDAY


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DAILY TITAN

Cal State Fullerton has one of the most recognized baseball programs in the nation and many former Titans have laced up their cleats in Major League Baseball.

A staggering 251 Titans have played profession-al baseball at some lev-el. That is the fourth most of any university in California, behind UCLA, USC and Stanford. The ma-jor leagues have seen 53 Titans in their ranks.

The first Titan to step in a major league batter’s box was Tim Wallach. He played first base for the 1979 national champion-ship team at CSUF. In his senior year at CSUF, he was the second ever Titan

to earn the Golden Spikes Award, which is given to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. He is one of three Titans to win the prestigious award.

Wallach was drafted in the first round of the 1979 MLB draft by the Montreal Expos. He spent 13 seasons with the Expos, in which he was a five-time All-Star and won three Gold Glove Awards. He played the re-mainder of his four years in the major leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers and California Angels. He is a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Wallach is a successful coach in MLB today. He has interviewed to be the man-ager of the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners and is the current bench coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The first Titan pitcher to make an impact in MLB is Mike Harkey. Harkey broke out as a Chicago Cub in 1990, when he made 27

starts with a 3.26 earned run average and finished fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting.

Injuries plagued Harkey throughout the rest of his career, but he is current-ly having a successful ca-reer as a pitching coach. He served on the coach-ing staff for the New York Yankees from 2008-2013 and is currently the pitch-ing coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The second Golden Spikes winner to come from CSUF was Phil Nevin. Nevin played for the Titans on the 1992 College World Series runner-up team. That season he had a .402 batting average with 22 home runs and 86 runs batted in. His impressive senior season and per-formance in the College World Series prompted the Houston Astros to pick him with the first pick in the 1992 MLB draft. An Astros scout famously quit his job because the team chose

Nevin with the first pick over Derek Jeter.

Nevin was a late-bloom-er as a pro baseball play-er. He didn’t emerge as an everyday player until 2000 for the San Diego Padres. That season, he hit 31 home runs and had 107 RBIs. In 2001 he hit a career-high 41 home runs with 126 RBIs and made his only All-Star team. He played five more years but never regained the success he once had. He currently manages the Reno Aces, the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The third and most re-cent Golden Spikes win-ner from CSUF was Mark Kotsay. He had a .422 bat-ting average in his junior year at CSUF with 21 home runs and 90 RBIs and was voted Most Outstanding Player of the College World Series in which the Titans won the national championship.

Kotsay was drafted in the first round by the Florida

Marlins in 1996. He had a very steady career but had a standout season in 2004 for the Oakland Athletics where he batted .314 and finished tied for fourteenth in the Most Valuable Player voting. Kotsay retired in September of 2013 after a 17-year career.

Kurt Suzuki was a mem-ber of the 2004 national championship team and led the team in several of-fensive categories, includ-ing batting average (.413), home runs (16), runs bat-ted in (87) and runs scored (77).

He was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the second round of the 2004 amateur draft. He made his major league debut in 2007 and was with Oakland un-til he was traded to the Washington Nationals in 2012. A year later the Nationals traded him back to Oakland.

For his major league ca-reer, Suzuki has 67 home runs, 359 RBIs and a

batting average of .253.Seven former Titans are

currently at spring train-ing and have a chance of making a major league ros-ter. Ricky Romero is try-ing to earn his way back into the Toronto Blue Jays starting rotation. The 2005 CSUF alumni broke out in 2011 for the Blue Jays when he had a 2.92 ERA and fin-ished in the top 10 of the Cy Young award voting.

Khris Davis, a 2009 alumni, debuted in 2013 for the Milwaukee Brewers ,and after an impressive rookie season, will be the starting left fielder in 2014.

Former Titan infielder Justin Turner is compet-ing for a spot on the Los Angeles Dodgers.

CSUF has a tradition of excellence in baseball. Current players like Matt Chapman and J.D. Davis hope to join the long list of alumni to play in the major leagues and continue the standard of greatness.

Few collegiate programs nationwide feature the same prestige and notoriety as the Cal State Fullerton base-ball team. Featuring four College World Series titles to go along with a multitude of Big West Conference cham-pionships, the Titans have been a national power for decades.

The first national cham-pionship for CSUF came in 1979, in former coach Augie Garrido’s seventh season as the Titans head coach. That Titans team finished 60-14-1 after defeating Arkansas 2-1 in Omaha, which in-cluded a 23-4-1 mark in the Southern California Baseball Association during the regu-lar season.

First baseman Tim Wallach was the star of the show for CSUF, hitting an impressive .391 with 23 home runs and 102 runs bat-ted in en route to winning the Golden Spikes Award for top player in the coun-try. Pitching was a definite strength of the 1979 squad as well, as four pitchers reached double digit wins for CSUF during that season.

An interesting side note

about this team is that they lost the first game of both the West Regional and the College World Series, which put the team in an early hole that they were fortunate to pull themselves out of.

Seven players were draft-ed from the 1979 team, with Wallach being the first tak-en at 10th overall by the Montreal Expos.

The second national championship for Titans baseball came in 1984, where they defeated the ti-tle-favorite Texas Longhorns 3-1 to wrap up the title.

This squad featured star catcher Bob Caffrey, who belted 28 home runs while recording 90 runs batted in to pace a Titans offense that hit .313 as a whole.

Pitching was again a dom-inant force for CSUF base-ball in 1984, where Todd Simmons compiled an im-pressive 15-3 record on the hill while his counterpart Jack Reinholtz finished the season with a dominant 13-2 mark.

The Titans again lost a game in the College World Series as they fell to Texas in their second game in Omaha, but rattled off four consecutive victories, in-cluding a win in the rematch with the Longhorns, to earn the title.

The 1984 squad featured 13 Titans who were draft-ed, with seven being pitch-ers and the other six being

various position players. The highest drafted was Caffrey, who the Yankees drafted with the 15th overall pick in the draft.

Garrido’s 20th season as the CSUF head coach in 1998 featured the most dominant team in school history, as the Titans compiled a 57-9 record that included a first place finish in the Big West Conference with an 18-3 conference record.

The star of the show for Fullerton was center field-er Mark Kotsay, who earned the Golden Spikes Award af-ter hitting .422 with 21 home runs and 90 runs batted in to go along with a 0.31 earned run average and 11 saves as a pitcher. Kotsay also earned the Rotary Smith Award, which is awarded to the country’s top two-way play-er. He finished his career as one of the most decorated players in CSUF history.

This dominant Titans squad did not lose a single game in postseason play, as they swept through the College World Series, win-ning all four games, includ-ing an 11-5 win over the USC Trojans in the final game.

The 2004 title was the most recent championship for CSUF baseball, and the only one for former Head Coach George Horton. While the season ended on a high note, the Titans struggled initially out of the gate, as they held a pedestrian 16-16

record before entering con-ference play. Fullerton took off once the Big West sched-ule opened up, as they fin-ished with a 19-2 record against their conference foes.

Catcher Kurt Suzuki and infielder Justin Turner led the Titans on the offensive end, while pitchers Ricky Romero and Jason Windsor were dominant on the mound. Romero finished the year with a 14-4 record and a respectable 3.37 earned run average while Windsor went 13-4 with an outstanding 1.72 ERA.

A total of six players were drafted from CSUF after the 2004 championship season.

While baseball is the most well-known of the athletic programs at CSUF, the soft-ball team has collected sev-eral accolades over the years, including a national champi-onship of their own in 1986 under then Head Coach Judi Garman.

This is the lone champion-ship in Titan softball histo-ry, but the program seems to be headed in the right direc-tion under second-year Head Coach Kelly Ford.

Both the CSUF baseball and softball programs are headed toward long-term success, as they will hopeful-ly make both Goodwin Field and Anderson Family Field home to national champions once again.

JOSEPH ANDERSONDaily Titan

Baseball has won four championships and softball has one

MICHAEL HUNTLEYDaily Titan

CSUF baseball has produced a total of 251 professionals

Titan greats in the pros

CSUF building a dynasty

The Titans won their first championship in 1979, defeating Arkansas to finish the season 60-41-1. Their second win came in 1984 with a 66-20 record. In 1998, the team won the national title with a 57-9 record. Their most recent title, in 2004, was the result of a 47-22 season.

WINNIE HUANG / Daily Titan


ROSTERSMARCH 3, 2014 PAGE 3MONDAY THE DAILY TITAN

2014 SoftballNo. Name Pos. B/T Cl. Ht. Exp. Hometown/Last School44 Jasmine Antunez P/OF R/R So. 5-4 1V Garden Grove, Calif. / Garden Grove HS9 Gabby Aragon IF R/R R-Sr. 5-8 3V Garden Grove, Calif. / Rancho Alamitos HS11 Kayla Blanco IF R/R Jr. 5-7 1V Anaheim, Calif. / Orange Coast College19 Sydney Colenzo C/IF L/R Fr. 5-5 HS Downey, Calif. / Calvary Chapel HS8 Eliza Crawford IF L/R R-Jr. 5-7 2V Lakewood, Calif. / Lakewood HS10 Megan Estacio UT L/R Fr. 5-3 HS Long Beach, Calif. / Millikan HS23 Mikaela Francis IF L/R Fr. 6-0 HS Santa Rosa, Calif. / Maria Carrillo HS7 Samantha Galarza UT L/R So. 5-5 1V Moreno Valley, Calif. / Valley View HS3 Leesa Harris OF L/R Sr. 5-2 3V Los Angeles, Calif. / Westchester HS72 Paige Kisling OF L/R So. 5-3 TR Torrance, Calif. / North Texas13 Lauren Mario IF R/R Sr. 5-2 3V San Diego, Calif. / Rancho Bernardo HS26 Olivia Martinez C R/R Fr. 5-9 HS Corona, Calif. / Corona HS18 Holly Mooring UT R/R Jr. 5-7 JC La Mirada, Calif. / Mt. SAC00 Delynn Rippy OF L/R Fr. 5-5 HS Oceanside, Calif. / El Camino HS22 Gabrielle Rodas OF R/R Fr. 5-7 HS Fullerton, Calif. / Troy HS1 Jena Rubio OF R/R Sr. 5-1 3V Whittier, Calif. / Troy HS16 Melissa Sechrest UT L/L So. 5-8 1V Peoria, Ariz. / Sunrise Mountain HS34 Kayla Silverstein P R/R Fr. 6-0 HS Carlsbad, Calif. / La Costa Canyon HS12 Kelly Stowe IF R/R So. 5-7 TR Anaheim Hills, Calif. / Canyon High School33 Missy Taukeiaho IF R/R So. 5-3 TR Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. / University of Washington31 Ariel Tsuchiyama C L/L R-Sr. 5-4 3V La Habra, Calif. / Sonora HS2 Carissa Turang IF L/R Jr. 5-4 1V Corona, Calif. / Southern Miss29 Emily Vizcarra IF L/R R-So. 5-6 1V Lake Elsinore, Calif. / Lakeside HS5 Christina Washington P L/L Fr. 5-5 HS Inglewood, Calif. / Torrance HS4 Monique Wesley P R/R So. 5-6 1V Fontana, Calif. / Etiwanda HS15 Desiree Ybarra P L/L Jr. 5-7 2V Riverside, Calif. / Riverside Poly HS

Head Coach: Kelly Ford (2nd Season) Oklahoma ‘92Associate Head Coach: Dee Dee Kingsbury (12th Season) UCLA ‘94Assistant Coach: Jorge Araujo (2nd Season) Cal Poly Pomona ‘92Undergraduate Assistant Coach: Pam Newton (2nd Season)Undergraduate Assistant Coach: Courtney Snyder (1st Season)

2014 BaseballNo. Name Pos. B/T Cl. Ht. Wt. Exp. Hometown/Last School17 Phil Bickford RHP R/R Freshman 6-4 200 HS Newbury Park, Calif. / Oaks Christian HS1 Taylor Bryant INF R/R Freshman 6-0 185 HS La Quinta, Calif. / La Quinta HS46 Miles Chambers RHP R/R Freshman 6-2 200 RS Elverta, Calif. / Rio Linda HS6 Matt Chapman INF R/R Junior 6-2 215 2V Trabuco Canyon, Calif. / El Toro HS45 Christian Coronado RHP R/R Senior 6-2 195 2V Hemet, Calif. / Hemet HS5 Keegan Dale INF L/R Senior 6-2 195 3V Riverside, Calif. / King HS37 Dom Davis INF R/R Junior 5-9 170 JC Chino, Calif. / Rio Hondo CC26 J.D. Davis 1B/P R/R Junior 6-3 215 2V Elk Grove, Calif. / Elk Grove HS31 Jared Deacon C L/R Senior 6-0 185 3V Elk Grove, Calif. / Elk Grove HS22 Austin Diemer OF R/R Junior 6-1 195 2V Rocklin, Calif. / Rocklin HS15 Thomas Eshelman RHP R/R Sophomore 6-3 210 1V Carlsbad, Calif. / Carlsbad HS8 Justin Garza RHP R/R Sophomore 5-11 170 1V Ontario, Calif. / Bonita HS32 Koby Gauna RHP R/R Junior 6-3 225 2V Torrance, Calif. / St. John Bosco HS43 Maxwell Gibbs LHP R/L Freshman 6-3 185 HS Huntington Beach, Calif. / Marina HS20 Chad Hockin RHP R/R Freshman 6-2 200 HS Upland, Calif. / Bonita HS4 Jake Jefferies INF S/R Sophomore 6-1 195 1V Pleasanton, Calif. / Foothill HS11 Ryan Kayoda RHP R/R Freshman 6-1 175 HS Lake Forest, Calif. / El Toro HS10 A.J. Kennedy C R/R Sophomore 6-0 190 1V Anaheim, Calif. / Savanna HS25 Willie Kuhl RHP L/R Junior 6-3 195 2V Mission Viejo, Calif. / Mission Viejo HS23 David Olmedo-Barrera OF L/R Sophomore 6-1 190 1V La Canada, Calif. / St. Francis HS34 Henry Omaña RHP R/R Sophomore 6-4 225 1V Walnut, Calif. / Diamond Bar HS27 Niko Pacheco C R/R Freshman 6-0 215 HS Fresno, Calif. / Bullard HS51 Tyler Peitzmeier LHP L/L Junior 6-2 210 2V Yutan, Neb. / Yutan HS35 Tanner Pinkston 1B L/R Sophomore 6-6 230 1V Dublin, Calif. / Dougherty Valley HS13 Timmy Richards INF R/R Freshman 6-0 180 HS Long Beach, Calif. / Wilson HS3 Tyler Stieb OF S/R Sophomore 5-9 165 JC Clements, Calif. / Delta CC47 Shane Stillwagon RHP R/R Freshman 6-1 185 RS Long Beach, Calif. / Valley Christian HS24 Greg Velazquez OF R/R Senior 6-1 200 3V Fullerton, Calif. / Fullerton HS30 Marcus Vidales OF R/R Freshman 5-11 190 HS Woodland, Calif. / Pioneer HS12 Grahamm Wiest RHP R/R Junior 6-3 205 2V Orange, Calif. / JSerra HS42 Clay Williamson OF L/R Junior 6-1 205 2V Laguna Niguel, Calif. / JSerra HS54 Jose Zamora C R/R Freshman 5-10 180 HS San Bernardino, Calif. / Arroyo Valley HS Head Coach: 28 - Rick Vanderhook (3rd Season); Trinity University, 2003Assistant Coaches: 9 - Mike Kirby (8th Season); Cal State Fullerton, 1994 39 - Jason Dietrich (2nd Season); Cal State Fullerton, 1999Volunteer Assistant Coach: 36 - Chad Baum (8th Season); Cal State Fullerton, 1999Director of Baseball Operations: Todd Rogers (10th Season)

Undergraduate Assistants: 33 - Shane Costa (2nd Season) Cory Vanderhook (2nd Season)Graduate Manager: Anthony Hutting (1st Season); Cal State Fullerton, 2013Student Managers: Jesus Ramos (4th Season) A.J. Briones (2nd Season) Max Gaines (2nd Season)

Director of Softball Operations: Korinne RandazzoAssistant Athletic Trainer: Brent SmedleyCertified Athletic Trainer: Rachel MoonTeam Manager: Diane GutierrezVolunteer Assistant Coach: April Frazier (2nd Season) Oklahoma ‘04

ATHLETESPAGE 4 MARCH 3, 2014THE DAILY TITAN MONDAY


As a Titan bat boy, Matt Chapman watched the Cal State Fullerton base-ball team go on to win the national championship in 2004. Now he wants to win a national title with the team he grew up watching.

Currently a junior at CSUF, the infielder from El Toro High School knew ex-actly what he wanted to do when he got his offer.

“I’ve always grown up around the program and it’s kind of been a dream and once they offered me, it seemed like a no-brain-er to continue to play baseball here,” Chapman said.

Baseball has been in Chapman’s blood ever since he was playing tee-ball. Baseball has become life for Chapman and he can be his natural self when he is on the field.

“(Playing baseball) means everything, I work hard every day for that moment to be out on that field and show everybody what I can do and have fun,” he said. “It’s when I can be myself the most; it’s what I love to do.”

With a .429 batting av-erage in his junior year of high school and a .422 average his senior year, Chapman represents the small-ball mentality of Titan baseball.

Chapman began his freshman year a little un-sure about what he was getting himself into, but was enthusiastic about his opportunity and quick-ly gelled with his new teammates.

“Freshman year obvi-ously I was getting my feet wet and learning,” Chapman said. “I was ex-cited, a little nervous, be-cause I didn’t know what to expect, really, but it was awesome because once you were in, it was like ev-eryone is your brother, it’s a big family.”

Chapman made a big impact as a newcomer in 2012, appearing in 50 games and batting .286. Chapman belted two home runs and drove in 23 runs to earn Big West Freshman of the Year honors. Chapman helped the Titans to a 41-17 re-cord but the team fell in their regional matchup to Oregon.

Chapman elevated his play in his second season

with the Titans and avoid-ed the dreaded sophomore slump. He batted .285 and earned a spot on the Big West Conference second team. Chapman blasted five home runs and drove in 37 runs to help the Titans to a 51-10 record, only to be ousted in the super regional by eventual champions UCLA.

The first two seasons of experience has helped Chapman grow on and off the field.

“(The experience) defi-nitely helped me grow as a player with all the hard work that we put in. It’s helped me become a more well-rounded player and taught me hard work,

dedication ... and just made me more mentally tough and I think become a better person out of it too,” Chapman said.

With the departure of many key players from last season, Chapman has in-herited more of a leader-ship role on the team that was ranked No. 1 in several preseason polls. However, Chapman is ready to em-brace his new role and hopes to lead by example.

Chapman said Titan alumni Carlos Lopez and Richy Pedroza were his biggest inf luences as teammates by keeping him in check and teaching him what to do in certain situations.

“Sure we’d love to have some of those guys back but we can just take what we learn from them and try to apply it to the new guys and help them buy into what we do,” he said. “Now that people actually look up to me, it’s my turn to fill their shoes and do what they did except in my own way.”

Titan fans may not have found the No. 19 jersey at the beginning of the sea-son, but the junior sim-ply switched to the No. 6 jersey, which was previ-ously worn by Pedroza. Chapman said No. 6 is his favorite number. He has been wearing it since high school, and he dreamed

about wearing No. 6 at Fullerton.

Chapman is off to a f ly-ing start in his third sea-son. He has hammered two home runs and drove in nine runs, both good for a share of the team lead. Chapman has batted an impressive .341 through the first 10 games as the Titans have compiled a 7-3 record.

Chapman and the rest of the Titan hitters feel they have something to prove after the pitching staff has been getting most of the preseason hype.

“I think we’re going to shock some people. Some people might not give the hitting enough

credit, but I think we’re going to definitely play of-fense well and score runs,” Chapman said. “We’re a good, well-rounded base-ball team. I think we bring a lot of things to the ta-ble, some speed and some power, so it will be fun.”

Chapman has high hopes for the rest of his career in a Titan uniform and for the rest of his baseball career.

“My ultimate goal is to win a national champion-ship here and then con-tinue to play professional baseball the next couple years if I’m lucky enough to,” Chapman said. “For sure I want to play in the major leagues one day.”

Missy Taukeiaho’s jour-ney to Cal State Fullerton was different than most athletes’. She was heavily recruited out of Etiwanda High School in Rancho Cucamonga. She was the second-best softball recruit in California, according to ESPN. After a long recruit-ing process, she did not land at CSUF.

She ended up at the University of Washington. She had family ties to the Pac-12 Conference, with relatives playing football at Arizona State and Oregon State. The choice to take her talents to Washington

made sense. Washington is one of the top softball pro-grams in one of the elite conferences in the nation.

“I wanted to be on the West Coast. I wanted to be in a Pac-12 school,” Taukeiaho said. “I didn’t really want to go all the way across the country to play.”

Taukeiaho had a de-cent year on the field at Washington in 2013. She played in 42 games and the team made it to the semifinals of the Women’s College World Series. But things weren’t all sunshine and rainbows beneath the surface.

“It definitely wasn’t what I expected it to be,” Taukeiaho said. “Things just didn’t work out with me and the coaching staff. It had nothing to do with the players or playing time.”

Taukeiaho did not see the

field much later in the sea-son. Communication issues between Taukeiaho and Head Coach Heather Tarr eventually led to Taukeiaho leaving Washington.

“We were always on dif-ferent pages,” Taukeiaho said. “So things went south toward the end of confer-ence and I made my own decision.”

Titan Assistant Coach Jorge Araujo was an in-strumental figure in get-ting Taukeiaho to CSUF. Araujo is the head recruit-ing coordinator and works with the Titan infielders. Taukeiaho played left field at Washington but feels most comfortable at third base.

“He was my third trav-el ball coach I played for growing up and I stayed with him all the way un-til high school,” Taukeiaho said. “That was a gateway to

Cal State Fullerton.”Taukeiaho had the op-

portunity to transfer to other Pac-12 schools or go across the country to play in the Southeastern Conference. But family is very important to her and she didn’t want to remain far from them.

“I love seeing my family. That was one thing I didn’t get last year,” Taukeiaho said. “That was different for me because I’ve always had my family at all my games. I’ve always had that sup-port and I didn’t have it last year.”

After her difficult ex-perience at Washington, having a connection with the coaching staff played a big role in her decision to transfer. Araujo introduced her to Titan Head Coach Kelly Ford.

“I met Coach Ford prior to my visit and there was

something different about her than I’ve experienced with other female coach-es,” Taukeiaho said. “She really didn’t fool me. She was being straight up and honest.”

Ford is known for being an approachable coach and having an open-door pol-icy. Her loose nature was appealing to Taukeiaho and helped her decision in transferring to CSUF.

“We’re able to relax in this environment. We’re able to have fun and we play well when we’re like that,” Taukeiaho said. “This is just fun compared to when I was up there it was work.”

Taukeiaho has settled in and found her rhythm at CSUF. She leads the team in batting average and on-base percentage. She has started every game at third base and the consistency is helping her development.

She has a slugging per-centage of .630 and leads the team in total bases.

Despite these impres-sive numbers, Taukeiaho generally ignores her sta-tistics until the end of the season.

“I’ve never really looked at numbers,” Taukeiaho said. “I don’t like to because then that makes me feel like I have to keep a certain ex-pectation, and when I feel like I have to keep some-thing then I try too hard, and when I try too hard I just sink.”

Taukeiaho has found comfort at CSUF. She is playing the position she loves with a coaching staff and teammates who mesh well with her. On top of all that, she is only 30 miles from home. Fortunately for the Titans, her happiness is translating to on-field suc-cess in a Titan uniform.

Chapman leads charge

Taukeiaho shining in first year at CSUF

Junior Matt Chapman will shoulder more of a leadership role this season after the departure of some of last season’s key players. Chapman wants to lead by example and put his own stamp on his teaching methods with the newcomers. Chapman is batting .341 through the first 10 games, hitting two home runs and driving in nine runs.


TAMEEM SERAJDaily Titan

The junior infielder is embracing his new team responsibilities

MICHAEL HUNTLEYDaily Titan

The third baseman returns home after a year at Washington


COACHESMARCH 3, 2014 PAGE 5MONDAY THE DAILY TITAN

From joining a team mid-season to finalizing an ardu-ous adoption, the last year of Cal State Fullerton softball coach’s life came at break-neck speed, giving her no time to pause. Not that she would need to anyway.

Ford was hired onto staff during last season, mak-ing her just the third head softball coach in Cal State Fullerton history.

“Everything seemed fast-forward last season. There was no preparation,” Ford said. “Last year at this time when I got the position, I honestly didn’t know the girls names, where they were from, what they were about. I committed to not going back and looking at their stats, and just looking at the season and their personal performance from what I got to know of them.”

Ford came from Mt. San Antonio College where she had won an astound-ing four California State Championships, seven South Coast Conference Championships and five South Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors.

She attributes part of her impressive record to her coaching style, which stress-es the importance of mental preparation.

“My No. 1 job is to build confidence in these ath-letes,” Ford said. “My job is to motivate and to inspire and make sure when these athletes take field they be-lieve and are confident. I think that’s just as import-ant as being able to hit that curveball.”

Upon ar-riving at Cal State F u l l e r t o n , one of Ford’s first goals was just that. She wanted to remove the nerves and t r e p i d a t i o n she saw in her team when they competed against nationally ranked teams.

Through her coaching and a quick four wins against top 25 ranked teams last season, she believes that her team has already gained that con-fidence and eliminated any chance of the past creeping

back in.“We can compete with

anybody anytime, it’s just a state of mind,” Ford said about her team. “They ex-pect to win. They don’t care what name is on the jersey.”

Despite having no time to familiarize herself with the program or team last year, Ford was still able to make a profound impact on the team in her first sea-son. Under her guidance she brought Titan softball up from a national rank of 199 at the beginning of the sea-son to 58 at the end, mak-ing them the most improved team in the country.

Ford also credits her suc-cess at Cal State Fullerton to her assistant coach-ing squad, whom she hand picked.

“I’ve hired coaches who are better than me in areas.” Ford said. “What I believe is really powerful, is hiring a staff of coaches that where I’m weak they excel.”

Aside from softball, Ford’s other passion is her daugh-ter, Sarah. Ford said Sarah is a gift in her life and her escape.

Ford adopted her through a foster program, knowing immediately that she want-ed to foster to adopt. “I knew from day one that I wanted to foster to adopt, so when I got the call they said it was a slam dunk adoption. Two hours later I had her.”

However, three weeks af-ter bringing her daughter home the adoption agency told her the process wouldn’t be that simple. It would be three more years before Ford could legally call Sarah her daughter.

“I endured the emotion-al roller coast-er and ended up getting her back,” Ford said. “The adoption was final during last spring season in May. Her adop-tion that I had been waiting for three years had been final.”

With her first year as head coach and an adop-tion behind her, Ford is ex-cited to take on her first full

season. With the added lux-ury of a full preseason this year, Ford is expecting even more out her team. “It is a constant work in progress. These guys are laying the groundwork. The 2013 team built the foundation, now this group is taking it to the next level.”

In his third season at the helm of the Cal State Fullerton baseball team, Head Coach Rick Vanderhook has seen his fair share of big mo-ments, but says he still looks forward to “the” highlight as the Titans’ head coach.

The two-time Big West Coach of the Year winner and former Titans player came back to CSUF in 2011 with three CSUF championship rings, looking to earn more.

Vanderhook began his career at CSUF as a graduate assistant in 1985 after helping the Titans win their second College World Series title in 1984.

The Titans currently hold a 7-3 re-cord after pulling off a road sweep of the University of Oregon Ducks, where Vanderhook bested his former mentor, Oregon Head Coach George Horton.

Vanderhook will look to make his third season the charm as the Titans hope to continue their momentum.

Despite all of his accomplish-ments, Vanderhook has stayed driv-en and has focused on winning first and foremost since becoming a coach.

“With my personality if we lost a lot of games over a two or three-year period of time I’d probably have a heart attack and die because I don’t

take losing very well. It’s competitive athletics,” Vanderhook said.

It isn’t about how hard you tried or how the game is played, he said. It’s about winning or losing, and he maintains a simple yet firm philoso-phy on how to win.

“Score more runs than the other team. That’s it,” he said. “Whatever team touches home plate the most wins, so however we go about it, you can have ugly wins but they’re wins. You can have good losses but they’re still losses,” Vanderhook said.

With this competitive fire burning, Vanderhook admits he is still look-ing for the biggest win of his career.

“I haven’t had the biggest one yet. One of the biggest wins was my first win at Florida my first year. They were No. 1 in the country. We were a little bit undermanned … we went in there and we played with them all three games and beat them on the Sunday game for the first win.” Vanderhook said.

He left the Titans after the 1988 season and served as an assistant at Cal State Northridge from 1989-1990, leading them to a No. 2 ranking in Division II baseball.

Vanderhook returned to Fullerton in the 1991 season, and the Titans eventually won two more College World Series championships in 1995 and 2004. The 2004 team was led by current Oregon Head Coach George Horton.

When Vanderhook is not enduring

his intense passion for baseball, he is a family man. The river is one of his favorite places to be once the base-ball season ends.

“I think we made it for five days last summer, but I like going to the river and putting the boat in the wa-ter and putting the Sea-Doos in the water and taking the kids wake-boarding and just sitting in the sun at 112 degrees and relaxing and not worrying about stuff. That’s what I like. It gets me away from every-thing,” Vanderhook said.

In 2007 Vanderhook left the Titans, not returning to baseball un-til 2009 as an assistant for the UCLA Bruins. He helped lead them to a sec-ond-place finish in the 2010 College World Series.

Vanderhook left the Bruins in 2011 to replace Dave Serrano as head coach. Serrano now coaches the Tennessee Volunteers.

In the 2012 season, CSUF won a Big West title with a 37-21 record. They were knocked out in the Eugene Regional by Oregon and Austin Peay.

The Titans improved in 2013, fin-ishing 51-10, which was the sec-ond-best winning percentage in school history. They were elimi-nated in Super Regionals by UCLA, who went on to win the national championship.

For more information on CSUF baseball and all Titan athletics, go to FullertonTitans.com.

Head Coach Rick Vanderhook is entering his third season as the coach of the Titan baseball team. He has three CSUF championship rings, one as a player and he is hoping for a fourth with this season’s team. The team is off to a 7-3 start in the 2014 season.


JAMES SMITHDaily Titan

Softball head coach hopes to continue last year’s success

Captain Hook

Ford enters her second season

“My job is to motivate and to inspire and

make sure when these athletes take field they believe and are

confident. I think that’s just as important as being able to hit that curveball.”

KELLY FORDCSUF Softball Head Coach

IAN O’BRIENDaily Titan

Head Coach Rick Vanderhook enters his third season

Head Coach Kelly Ford salutes during the national anthem. Ford is looking to build a strong softball program for years to come.


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the Daily Titan. We are especially interested in students

who would like to become regular freelancers or

involved in the production process.

If interested, please contact:Nereda Moreno, Managing Editor

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[email protected]

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STADIUMPAGE 6 MARCH 3, 2014THE DAILY TITAN MONDAY


The Cal State Fullerton baseball team has had an evident home-field advan-tage since throwing its first pitch at Goodwin Field.

“(Titan baseball) has amassed a stunning 482-154 overall record and a .758 winning percentage through the 2012 season,” according to the Fullerton Athletics site.

This amazing home-field record is due in part to the extensive renovations that made Goodwin Field, pre-viously known as Titan Field, the new home for the CSUF baseball team on April 18, 1992.

Since the inauguration of Goodwin Field in 1992, there have been addition-al improvements made to enhance the quality of the facilities. Some of these improvements include the new digital message board. In the spring of 2011, a new LED digital screen replaced the previous scoreboard.

The most extensive of these improvements was a $3 million project finished just before opening day in 2001. This project allowed the stadium to hold around 3,500 fans, doubling the previous attendees capaci-ty of 1,750.

This project also includ-ed the field’s first on-site clubhouse equipped with locker rooms, coaches’ of-fices and a VIP viewing and entertainment room that overlooks the field.

This venture was made possible with the tremen-dous generosity of Merilyn and Jerry Goodwin, who donated $1 million to fund the project.

The couple’s connec-tion to CSUF began with a friendship between Jerry Goodwin and Milton A. Gordon, former president of CSUF. Goodwin saw the help that was needed for the baseball facilities.

“I wanted to give to a program that would bene-fit the school and what was most needed at the time,” Jerry Goodwin said in an interview with CSUF.

On April 14, 2000, in honor of the Goodwins, the stadium changed its name from Titan Field to Goodwin Field. There was a ceremony held to mark the official change before the CSUF game against Long Beach State that same day.

Merilyn Goodwin said she loves seeing her name in lights, and hopes it is an inspiration to all the ath-letes who play on Goodwin Field.

“I made mention the day they dedicated this sta-dium, we hope that every time they go out there, they plan on having a good win,” Merilyn Goodwin said in an interview with CSUF.

In addition to the vast improvements, Goodwin Field has also been the home to many firsts for the Titan baseball team.

The transformation of the field into a state-of-the-art facility allowed the NCAA to name Goodwin Field as a site for region-al play for the first time in 2000. CSUF hosted the Super Regionals in eight of the past 11 seasons.

A sold-out home crowd of 3,412 was able to see the Titans earn a berth in the College World Series against the Mississippi State Bulldogs for the very first time.

Steve DiTolla, the senior associate athletics direc-tor, credits much of the growth of Titan baseball to the field renovations that were made possible by the Goodwins.

“Our baseball program has been able to host re-gional and super region-al championships, which has allowed us (CSUF) a home-field advantage,” said DiTolla in an interview with CSUF.

Goodwin Field’s atten-dance records have contin-ued to skyrocket over pre-vious records. Toward the end of the 2005 Titan base-ball season, fans gathered and set a new benchmark for selling out at 3,654. That season the Titans had four sellout games, three of which were consecutive.

Goodwin Field has at-tracted massive amounts of Titan baseball fans. Goodwin Field is durable and will last for many years to come thanks to the gen-erosity of Merilyn and Jerry Goodwin.

Goodwin Field, built in 1992, is named after Jerry and Merilyn Goodwin, who donated $1 million to help renovate the facility.WINNIE HUANG / Daily Titan

Goodwin Field

GINA VAN STRATTENDaily Titan

Titans have a .758 win percentage at home through 2012

THE NEWSTHAT MATTERSTO YOU

Diamond has seen nearly 500 Titan wins since 1992

GOODWIN FACTS

Full name: Jerry and Merilyn Goodwin Field

Opened: 1992

Capacity: 3,500

Record Attendance: 3,554

Formerly: Titan Field (1992-2000)

Last renovated: 2010

STADIUMMARCH 3, 2014 PAGE 7MONDAY THE DAILY TITAN

After spending its first five seasons at Lions Field in Brea, Cal State Fullerton’s softball pro-gram moved to the CSUF campus in 1985 and has re-mained here ever since.

During the 2006 season, the Titan softball com-plex main diamond was renamed Anderson Family Field. This name change was made to honor the constant capital gifts from two Anderson families, Jeff and Michelle Anderson and Dennis and Vicki Anderson.

These Yorba Linda res-idents have contributed to the CSUF softball and baseball programs over the past 10 years.

The Andersons appreci-ated being recognized and having the field renamed after their families.

“We have enjoyed our association over the years and are proud to be rec-ognized by the university,” Jeff Anderson said in an in-terview with CSUF.

Milton A. Gordon, for-mer president of CSUF, said it was an honor to be able to name the field af-ter the family because they have long supported the athletics teams on cam-pus, especially that of the softball program.

“It’s always gratifying to be able to honor long-time supporters like the

Anderson family, and es-pecially so as we name the home of our nation-al-caliber softball team Anderson Field,” Gordon said in an interview with the college.

Many renovations and improvements have been made to the softball fa-cilities through the con-stant donations from the two Anderson families. The softball facility was completely redesigned in 2000.

Chair back bleachers were added to ensure com-fort for the fans of the new-ly increased capacity at the main field of 1,000 fans. These blue and orange seats were designed in line with spirit of CSUF and the softball program.

The press box behind home plate was also

expanded. A two-tiered press box was built, com-plete with full Internet accessibility for members of the media during the games. It has hosted media outlets such as Big West, ESPN3 and many more.

The new landscaped grassy knoll behind the left field fence made it perfect for fans to enjoy Southern California’s calm and beautiful weather during the games. On this knoll stands the bright LED digital scoreboard and screen.

During games, this screen showcases close-up footage and stats on the athletes. The knoll can be used as extra seating for those who enjoy throwing a blanket on the grass and enjoying the game.

The new Anderson

Family Field is also equipped with two com-plete bullpens for two pitchers to warm up. There are also two sunken dug-outs to house both teams during the games.

The beauty and dura-bility of Anderson Family Field has drawn fans to each home game and tour-nament. The record for the highest attendance was a game against UCLA in March 2003. The atten-dance totaled 1,643 excit-ed fans.

Anderson Family Field uses its full capacity in home games as well as CSUF’s two highly com-petitive tournaments: the DeMarini Invitational and the Judi Garman Classic.

The Judi Garman Classic is revered as the nation’s premier regular-season

tournament, standing second to the Women’s College World Series held in Oklahoma City, Okla.

The record for tour-nament attendance at Anderson Family Field was reached during the Judi Garman Classic of the 2008 season against Fresno State. The record tournament attendance stands at 2,096 fans.

Anderson Family Field has supported and housed the softball program as they have won Player of the Year awards, berths in the College World Series, conference games and post-season appearances.

The field now stands as one of the top softball ven-ues in the country. It has become synonymous with the success and appeal of the Titans softball team.

Anderson Family FieldAnderson Family Field, which received its name in 2006, is home to Titan softball and named after two separate families from Yorba Linda who have contributed to the CSUF baseball and softball programs.

DAVID MCLAREN & WINNIE HUANG / Daily Titan

GINA VAN STRATTENDaily Titan

Field has grown to become one of the best for softball fans


Home to Judi Garman Classic boasts advanced technology, landscaped knoll

SCHEDULEPAGE 8 MARCH 3, 2014THE DAILY TITAN MONDAY


MarchFri March 7 at Baylor 4:35 PM Sat March 8 at Baylor 1:05 PM Sun March 9 at Baylor 11:05 AM Tue March 11 at San Diego 6:00 PM Fri March 14 Saint Mary’s 7:00 PM Sat March 15 Saint Mary’s 6:00 PM Sun March 16 Saint Mary’s 1:00 PM Tue March 18 UNLV 6:00 PM Fri March 21 Long Beach State 7:00 PM Sat March 22 Long Beach State 6:00 PM Sun March 23 Long Beach State 1:00 PM Fri March 28 at Wichita St. 4:30 PM Sat March 29 at Wichita St. 12:00 PM Sun March 30 at Wichita St. 11:00 AM AprilFri April 4 UC Davis * 7:00 PM Sat April 5 UC Davis * 6:00 PM Sun April 6 UC Davis * 1:00 PM Tue April 8 UCLA 6:00 PM Fri April 11 at UC Santa Barbara * 3:00 PM Sat April 12 at UC Santa Barbara * 2:00 PM Sun April 13 at UC Santa Barbara * 1:00 PM Thu April 17 at Cal Poly * 6:00 PM Fri April 18 at Cal Poly * 6:00 PM Sat April 19 at Cal Poly * 1:00 PM Wed April 23 at Fresno State 6:35 PM Fri April 25 Hawai’i * 7:00 PM Sat April 26 Hawai’i * 5:00 PM Sun April 27 Hawai’i * 7:30 PM Tue April 29 San Diego * 6:00 PM Wed April 30 Fresno State 6:00 PM

MayFri May 2 at Long Beach State * 6:00 PM Sat May 3 at Long Beach State * 2:00 PM Sun May 4 at Long Beach State * 1:00 PM Tue May 6 at UCLA 6:00 PM Fri May 9 UC Riverside * 7:00 PM Sat May 10 UC Riverside * 6:00 PM Sun May 11 UC Riverside * 1:00 PM Fri May 16 at UC Irvine * 6:30 PM Sat May 17 at UC Irvine * 6:00 PM Sun May 18 at UC Irvine * 1:00 PM Tue May 20 USC 6:00 PM Thu May 22 Cal State Northridge * 6:00 PM Fri May 23 Cal State Northridge * 7:00 PM Sat May 24 Cal State Northridge * 1:00 PM

MarchFri March 7 Fresno State 8:00 PMSat March 8 Nebraska 12:00 PMSat March 8 Arizona 3:00 PMSun March 9 Wisconsin 9:00 PMFri March 14 Canisius 3:30 PMFri March 14 UNLV 6:00 PMSat March 15 Texas Tech 2:30 PMSat March 15 DePaul 5:00 PMMon March 17 Canisius 6:00 PMWed March 26 at CSU Bakersfield 1:00 PMWed March 26 at CSU Bakersfield 3:00 PM Sat March 29 UC Santa Barbara * 4:00 PM Sat March 29 UC Santa Barbara * 6:00 PM Sun March 30 UC Santa Barbara * 12:00 PM

AprilFri April 4 at Hawai’i * 6:00 PM Sat April 5 at Hawai’i * 4:00 PM Sat April 5 at Hawai’i * 6:00 PMThu April 10 UCLA 6:00 PM Sat April 12 UC Riverside * 4:00 PMSat April 12 UC Riverside * 6:00 PM Sun April 13 UC Riverside * 12:00 PM Wed April 16 Long Beach State * 4:00 PMWed April 16 Long Beach State * 6:30 PM Thu April 17 Long Beach State * 6:00 PMSat April 26 at Cal Poly * 2:00 PM Sat April 26 at Cal Poly * 4:00 PM Sun April 27 at Cal Poly * 12:00 PM

MayThu May 1 Santa Clara 6:00 PM Sat May 3 UC Davis * 4:00 PM Sat May 3 UC Davis * 6:00 PMSun May 4 UC Davis * 12:00 PMFri May 9 at Cal State Northridge * 12:00 PMFri May 9 at Cal State Northridge * 2:00 PMSat May 10 at Cal State Northridge * 12:00 PM

* - Conference Games

Baseball Softball

Members of the Cal State Fullerton baseball team get ready to kick off the 2013 season against the USC Trojans at Goodwin Field. The Titans were victorious in the season opener by a score of 3-2, and the win sparked a 10-game winning streak. They would finish the season with an overall record of 51 wins and 10 losses.

ROBERT HUSKEY / For the Daily Titan

The Cal State Fullerton softball team gets pumped up before their game at the start of this past week’s tournament. Heavy rain forced the cancellation of the majority of the games at the tournament, and the Titans were only able to play once, losing to Oregon State by a score of 5-2.


Documents

Baseball and Softball Special Issue - Monday, March 3, 2014