Horton Ponders Life Minus Tournament

Cal State Fullerton Coach George Horton has mixed feelings about the apparent demise of the Big West baseball tournament.

From the beginning, Horton was concerned that a tournament belittled the importance of the 30-game conference season.

“Even though we won the conference tournament and the automatic bid last year, I thought Long Beach was more deserving because they had the best regular-season record,” said Horton, who said he also thought the tournament had its advantages.

“It was a good dry run to test your pitching staff in a regional-type experience,” Horton said. “And it gave teams a chance to pick up a few more victories that might help them get an at-large bid.”

Regardless, the three previous tournaments were not a financial success. The athletic directors have voted to drop the tournament format after this season. The university presidents are expected to approve that in June.

Current rules call for the championship and the automatic NCAA berth to be determined by a playoff between the top teams in the two divisions when there is no postseason tournament, and that is expected to be the format next season.

But will that be fair to Fullerton and Long Beach State? The schools have been the best in the conference recently and are in the same division.

“That’s a concern to me,” Horton said. “And will it hurt one of us in getting an at-large bid if we don’t make the playoff series?”

However, Horton says he probably wouldn’t want to see Fullerton and Long Beach in different divisions in the present format, which calls for six games, home and home, against teams in the same division and only three games against teams in the other division.

“I’d rather play Long Beach six times a year rather than one of the other teams,” Horton said. “It’s a good rivalry for both of us, and it helps our power rating when it comes time for consideration for a tournament bid.”

The Titans (42-13) appear assured of an NCAA bid this season, regardless of whether they win the conference tournament.

Winning the title, however, probably would put the Titans in consideration to be seeded No. 1 at a regional. Fullerton is ranked eighth in one poll and 12th in another this week.

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Locker rooms are being built at Titan Stadium for the baseball, softball and men’s and women’s soccer teams.

It’s part of a $1.1-million construction project that also involves adding restrooms and permanent concession stands to the east side of the stadium.

“A group is going to sponsor a summer events series at the stadium, and part of our deal was that they would pay for the improvements,” said Bob May, director of athletic development.

May said the additional restrooms and concession stands also “are a critical piece” for expanding the Titan baseball facility. The new facilities will be adjacent to Titan Field.

“Our goal is to expand the baseball stadium to seat around 4,000, but to do that we needed the additional restrooms and concession areas,” May said.

Improvements also are planned for the Titan softball complex, May said.

The additional locker rooms at Titan Stadium will help reduce overcrowding in Titan Gym.

Ron Bond, director of the sports complex, said the construction is scheduled to be completed by May 30. “At this point, some of it is ahead of schedule and some of it is not,” he said.

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The Titan softball team didn’t make the NCAA playoffs for the second consecutive year after 15 consecutive regional tournament appearances, but Coach Judi Garman says she’s already optimistic about next season.

“We improved from seventh place last year in the conference to fourth this season, and as I told our players, if if we had won five more games this season we’d still be playing this week,” Garman said. “We ended the season in a positive way, and I’m excited about next year.”

The Titans finished 32-29, winning five of their last six games. Virtually all the team’s top players will be back next year. The main loss is pitcher Donna Coombes, who was 12-8 with a 2.44 earned-run average.

Coombes ended her career with a shutout over Long Beach State last week and was named Big West pitcher of the week.

Titan Notes

Basketball player Jason Cunningham was happy to learn the NCAA awarded him another year of eligibility. “It’s a big load off my back,” Cunningham said. “I was praying every night and working out every day, hoping that it would go my way.” Cunningham’s request for another season was based on the fact he was told by the NCAA he had to sit out a season after transferring from Nevada Las Vegas, even though he didn’t play the previous season at UNLV. Because of the error, Cunningham will be able to complete his four years of eligibility in six years. . . . Erasmo Ramirez was named Big West baseball pitcher of the week after giving up five hits and one run in seven innings last weekend against UC Santa Barbara--the day after suffering a broken nose in a freak batting practice mishap. Ramirez is 9-5 with a 3.54 earned-run average. His teammate, Benny Flores, leads the conference in pitching with an 11-0 record and 3.36 ERA.