Sporting orange jerseys and navy lids, the 2018 Titans baseball team faced off against alumni in their annual game Saturday looking to capture its ninth win in 10 years. The Titans were successful with a 6-3 win over their alumni.
“A game is a game, I thought we did okay. We weren’t great, we weren’t bad,” said Titans Head Coach Rick Vanderhook.
The alumni proved they hadn’t lost their touch the previous year when the two squads met at Goodwin Field.
“They were all over us last year when they took the win so we were definitely coming back this year and taking the win, which is always how it’s supposed to be,” said infielder Chris Prescott.
This year’s team featured Oakland Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman, World Series champion and pitcher for the Houston Astros, Chris Devenski and Miami Marlins catcher Chad Wallach.
The starting lineup for the Titans included standout players from last season including all-conference performer Sahid Valenzuela and Andrew Quezada, who earned a spot on Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects List.
“I thought it was a good first showing for us. Every time we go out on the field it’s competitive,” Quezada said.
The last organized contest Fullerton competed in was a fall scrimmage exhibition game against the University of Las Vegas, Nevada. The Titans fell to the Rebels 5-4 after ending the game with a man on third and leaving the tying run only 90 feet away.
The first five innings went scoreless, but the Titans made their way onto the scoreboard with a run in the bottom of the sixth. However, the alumni responded with a run at the top of the seventh inning.
“We started out slow but eventually picked it up a little bit. It’s fun to come out and compete, Overall, I think it was a good day,” Prescott said.
At the bottom of the seventh, the Titans took the lead after Valenzuela took a pitch to the back, bringing a man home. A sacrifice fly to center field by Mitchell Berryhill brought another man in and a line drive by Ruben Cardenas brought the man on third home, taking the score to 4-1.
Fullerton alumni cut the lead in the top of the eighth after Taylor Bryant drove in Austin Diemer with a line drive down the right-field line.
The 2018 squad had no problem answering with an RBI single to right field from Tyler Lasch which took the score to 6-2 at the bottom of the eighth inning.
An incomplete double play on behalf of the 2018 squad led the alumni to take the score to 6-3 to close out the game.
The 2018 Titans take the ballgame 6??-3??. But it's all about the Titan way and camaraderie at the end of the day #TusksUp #GoTitans pic.twitter.com/bkvKD7hOuf
— Titan Baseball (@BaseballTitans) January 27, 2018
CSUF alumnus, Scott Hurst, found that playing against guys who he once took the field with was a new but warm experience.
“It’s a little different. It’s always great to see them on the other side knowing that they’re going to be there with me someday on the alumni side,” Hurst said.
The next time the Titans take the field will be the season opener at Stanford University on Feb. 16.
“We’ve got a lot of things to work on and we’ll see where we go from there,” Vanderhook said.
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