Opening Day '12: Fullerton Preview

Mark McLeod, ESPN Radio

The opening season match-up at McKethan Stadium features two Top 25 programs that will have a very different approach to the game in 2012. The Gators power vs Fullerton’s speed. A veteran Florida weekend rotation vs a largely untested Titans staff. The continuity of Florida’s staff vs Fullerton new head coach Rick Vanderhook and company.

Cal State Fullerton head coach Rick Vanderhook is no stranger to the program. He played on the Titans 1984 national championship squad and spent 21 years as an assistant coach, which included 10 trips to the College World Series. He spent the past three seasons at UCLA as the Bruins hitting coach. Vanderhook has a record of 1026-465-2 (.688) as an assistant coach.

Offensively, the Titans feature a smaller, more athletic line-up that figures to play small ball and pressure defenses. They will put the ball in play and run. Last season the Titans stole 98 bases in 148 attempts. The number of home runs by returning players is just six. There is a severe power shortage there among returning players. They also have several options with regards to who hits in the one and two hole.

“They’re both duel threat guys,” Vanderhook said of speedy outfielders Ivory Thomas and Michael Lorenzen. “They both have the potential to steal bases. They both have the potential to hit the ball over the fence. They’re both very good on-base guys. They’re complete offensive players.”

Fullerton runs very well giving fans a superb match-up between Florida All-American catcher Mike Zunino and the speedy Titans. It will also be very interesting to see how freshman second baseman Casey Turgeon plays alongside All-American shortstop Nolan Fontana in a challenging start of the season against a fast group when double play opportunities present themselves.

One major area of concern is defense. Cal State Fullerton committed 74 errors in 58 games (1.27 epg) last season with 12 different players committing three errors or more. They finished with a .967 fielding percentage. By comparison, Florida committed just 70 errors in 72 games. There are three positions to keep a close eye on when the Titans are in the field. Vanderhook and staff will utilize two unproven catchers at the start of the season. Sophomore Chad Wallach (6’3, 225) only started four games last season and junior Casey Watkins (6’0, 190) received seven starting assignments, only three behind the plate.

Returning third baseman Richy Pedroza (5’6, 150) committed 11 errors. The junior struggled throughout the season at the hot corner.

“I think they have,” Vanderhook said when asked if the Titans learned after the struggles that plagued them in 2011. “I think they’ve relaxed a lot. You know last year for some guys was the first year Keegan Dale it was the first year that he played. Anthony Trajano, who battled injuries last year, it was the first year that he played. Richy (Pedroza) was experienced, but he was in and out of the lineup with injuries. They had (Greg) Velasquez playing the infield last year. So, they had a lot of combinations that they played last year, but we’ve tried to establish a little more of  unit that will be interchangeable on the infield, so they have a little more comfort in what they’re doing.”

True freshman Matt Chapman (6’1, 195) will get the start at shortstop this season for the Titans. Keegan Dale, who started 16 games last season, is third on the depth chart. Senior Derrick Legg (5’11, 190) transferred from Long Beach State will get the start at second base.  Junior Carlos Lopez (6’2, 220) fills out the infield at first base.

The outfield should be solid for the Titans.

“The outfield is extremely athletic,” Vanderhook said. “With Austin Kingsolver in left, Michael Lorenzen in center, and Ivory Thomas in right, we feel that we have extremely athletic fast outfield to shrink the field for the opponent, which is one of our goals to be able to do on the defense.”

First year pitching coach Kirk Saarloos has had his work cut out for him finding replacements and roles for an inexperienced staff. Eight members of the Titans 2011 staff were drafted last June. This year two players return who pitched about 80 innings.

“Well, the leader of the pitching staff is Dylan Floro, who is in his third year,” Vanderhook said. “He threw fifty-something innings last year in a lot of different roles. As a freshman, he had really good numbers throwing ninety innings and establishing himself as one of the premier pitchers in the program and because he has such versatility, they used in many different roles. He’s our Friday night guy and we’re going to give Dylan the ball every Friday night and expect to win.”

“Saturday will be Grahamm Wiest, who is a redshirt freshman and I would say that he’s just a pitcher,” Vanderhook added. “He’s a very good pitcher. He throws different pitches. He throws everything for strikes. He fields his position very well. He holds runners very well. And then after that, we don’t know what we’ve got. We know what we see when we play each other, but I couldn’t tell you who the Sunday starters gonna be and we might not be able to tell you that until after the Saturday game at the University of Florida.”

The odds-on-favorite to get the Sunday call is freshman left-hander Kenny Mathews. Sophomore outfielder Michael Lorezen will double as the Titans closer.

Mark McLeod is the host of “The Mark McLeod Show” and covers Gators football, recruiting, and baseball for ESPN Radio (Gainesville/Ocala). Mark is a member of the Football Writers Association of America. You can follow him on Twitter at @McLeodLive. E-mail Mark at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it