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Fullerton completes Titan-ic turnaround
By ERIC OLSON
Associated Press Writer
Sunday's Title Game
Fullerton 3, Texas 2
< View Linescore >
OMAHA After struggling at
the start of the season, Cal State Fullerton ended it in championship style.
Jason Windsor pitched a
five-hitter, Kurt Suzuki's RBI single capped off a three-run seventh inning
and Cal State Fullerton won the College World Series with a 3-2 victory over
Texas on Sunday.
The Titans (47-22) won the
best-of-3 championship series 2-0 a surprising end to a season they
started 15-16. The 22 losses are the most by a national champion since
Stanford had 23 in 1988.
"I'm in shock. I'm in awe,"
Fullerton coach George Horton said. "These guys I've been honored to coach
have kept surprising me and surprising me and surprising me. This is the
greatest turnaround in Cal State Fullerton history."
Fullerton also won national
titles in 1979, 1984 and 1995 all under current Texas coach Augie Garrido.
"It makes it even more special
to accomplish this competing against your mentor and against someone who
laid such a strong foundation for Cal State Fullerton," Horton said.
The Longhorns (58-15), the top
seed in the field, had moved through the tournament with a string of
lopsided victories that made them the prohibitive favorite against Cal State
Fullerton.
"It appeared by the way we
were playing that we were the best team and would win this tournament, which
makes it even harder for the players to understand or accept," Garrido said.
"We did our best. They did better."
Windsor (13-4) was strong in
throwing his second complete game of the CWS. He struck out 10 and walked
one.
Windsor shut out South
Carolina on a three-hitter in the Titans' opener, and he pitched three
innings of shutout relief Thursday in another win over the Gamecocks.
In 21 innings, Windsor gave up
11 hits and two runs, struck out 29 and was named the tournament's Most
Outstanding Player.
"It hasn't sunk in yet,"
Windsor said of his performances. "It will take a few days and some
relaxation. I look at it on paper and it looks great and sometimes I don't
believe it's me."
Windsor, a senior
right-hander, finished the season with 12 straight wins and nine complete
games after losing four of his first five starts.
"His numbers are
mind-boggling," Horton said. "You can't do it any better than that. The
thing I was worried about was whether we would go to the well too many times
using Jason."
Garrido said Fullerton did a
good job of capitalizing on its opportunities in the seventh inning.
Suzuki lined a two-out single
into left field, scoring Ronnie Prettyman from second for the go-ahead run.
Suzuki had been 2-for-20 in the College World Series before his big hit.
"I just didn't press," Suzuki
said. "Every time I got out, Coach Horton stayed positive with me. I came up
that last at-bat and said I want to be the man."
Fullerton, held to five hits
over the first 6 1/3 innings, broke through after Texas starter Sam LeCure
was relieved by Buck Cody (1-2) with the Longhorns leading 2-0.
Pinch-hitter Brett Pill
tripled in the seventh on Cody's first pitch, scoring Bobby Andrews to cut
Texas' lead to 2-1.
"My teammates told me he
throws a lot of fastballs in, and that's what he gave me," Pill said. "I was
lucky enough to get a piece of it."
A wild pitch by Cody scored
pinch-runner Brandon Tripp with the tying run.
Prettyman reached on a
throwing error by Texas shortstop Michael Hollimon, and later scored from
second on Suzuki's hit off J. Brent Cox.
LeCure turned in a solid
effort, holding the Titans to five hits and one run over 6 1/3 innings. He
struck out five and walked none.
LeCure stayed in the game
after getting hit on the right ankle by a hard comebacker by Justin Turner
in the fifth inning. The ball ricocheted to third baseman David Maroul, who
threw out Turner to end the inning. LeCure hopped back to the dugout, and a
few minutes later was throwing in the bullpen.
"I thought that was too minor
a thing to take me out of the game and hurt the team's chances," LeCure
said. "I felt I would be able to continue to be successful. In the seventh
inning, it was getting to me. It was tightening up."
But after LeCure left in the
seventh, the Texas bullpen couldn't hold the lead and blew its third save
opportunity of the Series.
Texas took 2-0 lead against
Windsor, who saw his scoreless innings streak end at 27 2/3 innings.
Dooley Prince doubled leading
off the game and Taylor Teagarden reached on a fielder's choice before
Hunter Harris drove both in with a single.
Windsor, who hadn't given up a
run in five appearances since June 4 against Minnesota, said the 34 pitches
he required to get out of the inning did not take a toll.
"I wasn't too worried about
the pitch count because of the pitches I have in my repertoire," Windsor
said. "I'm capable of using one or two pitches and getting some quick
innings."
During one stretch, Windsor
retired 22 of 24 batters.
"He's unreal, the biggest
competitor I've ever seen," Fullerton left fielder Danny Dorn said. "He's
been doing it all year. He just puts up zeros.".
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LINESCORE:
Texas
200 000 000 - 2 5 3
Cal State Fullerton 000 000 30X - 3 8
1
Batteries:
UT: LeCure, Cody (7), Cox (7) Street (7) and Teagarden.
CSF: Windsor and Suzuki.
W Windsor, 13-4. L Cody,
1-2.
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Copyright 2004
The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
02/23/2007 10:37:45 AM
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