Tournament Chances Improve

Cal State Fullerton’s baseball team begins its final regular-season series Friday against UC Santa Barbara with its chances for a berth in the NCAA playoffs looking much better than three weeks ago.

Fullerton (32-20-1) has won 10 of its last 12 games and returned to the Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball polls this week in the No. 24 position. It marks the first time Fullerton has been ranked in both polls since March 3.

But the Titans aren’t out of the woods yet.

They can’t afford to stumble against the Gauchos and not perform well in the Big West Conference postseason tournament.

Pitching likely will be the key.

“Nothing has really changed from that standpoint,” Titan pitching coach Dave Serrano said. “We knew that was the case from Day 1. But the bottom line is that our pitchers are going to have to rise to the occasion the next two weeks for us to get to where we want to be.”

Much could depend on whether Brandon Duckworth, the No. 3 starter, can recover from a strained muscle in his back that has left him sidelined the past two series.

“What is really important is that we have him back for the Big West tournament,” Serrano said. “That’s why we haven’t rushed trying to get him back. And if there’s any concern at all this week, he won’t pitch this weekend.

“We tried to have him throw in the bullpen last Thursday, but I told him that if he felt anything, we’d stop. It bothered him somewhat, so we stopped after only five pitches. We’ll try again this week and see how it feels. I’d like to get him one more start before the conference tournament, but we’ll just wait and see.”

Serrano hopes the layoff will be a blessing in disguise.

“All of our starters have pitched a lot of innings this season, so maybe the time off will help him come back fresher,” Serrano said. “It’s also has given us the opportunity to give some of our other pitchers some innings, and we’re going to need their help.”

John Alkire (1-5) started in place of Duckworth (7-1) Sunday against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and the Titans lost, 14-4. The loss ended Fullerton’s nine-game winning streak.

Alkire gave up 12 hits and eight runs, six of them earned, in four innings. “In fairness to him, it was a situation where he pitched better than the stats showed,” Serrano said. “The breaks really went against him. He was jamming guys, and they still looped balls over our infielders’ heads. It was that kind of day.”

*

Serrano also hopes Scott Hild, who has won two games in relief in the last two weeks, will continue to improve. “He’s had his old stuff back in his last four outings and has given us some very good innings,” Serrano said. “He might be a real key for us the rest of the way.”

Hild (3-4) was the only returning starter from last season, but he struggled early and lost his spot in the rotation.

Brian Tokarse (9-1) had an 8-0 record in early April, but then had two below-par outings before picking up his ninth victory at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo last weekend. In that game, Tokarse gave up eight hits and five runs, four of them in the third inning, but the Titans won, 12-5.

“We thought he pitched very well from the fifth inning on, and he had only the one bad inning,” Serrano said. “We’ve made some adjustments on his slider and that has seemed to help a lot.”

Tokarse said he went through about two weeks when he felt tired.

“This is the most innings I’ve ever pitched in one season,” said Tokarse, who pitched last year for Fullerton College. “I don’t think I went as much as eight innings more than once there. I’ve pitched longer and more often this season, and I think fatigue set in. My arm just didn’t have a lot of life in it for a while, but I feel rejuvenated now.”

Matt Wise continues as the Titans’ No. 1 starter and most consistent pitcher, even though his record is 5-6. His 3.32 earned-run average is the best on the staff. He has 105 strikeouts in 97 2/3 innings.

*

If all teams maintain their present positions in the Big West standings, Fullerton will play Pacific in the opening game of the postseason tournament May 15 at Fullerton. All other games will be at Blair Field in Long Beach.

That would likely produce a pitching matchup of Wise and Pacific’s Dan Reichert (12-3), who leads the Big West in victories and ERA (1.88). Reichert shut out the Titans earlier this year.

Pacific, however, doesn’t have the No. 2 spot in the Northern Division locked up, though the Tigers have a three-game lead over third-place New Mexico State. New Mexico State has a three-game series with Sacramento State and Pacific meets Nevada this weekend.

Titan Notes

The softball team won only two of six games last week to finish the season 29-25, which leaves the Titans with no chance of getting an at-large bid to the NCAA playoffs. It will be the first time the Titans will miss the postseason tournament in the 18 years of the program. . . . Former Fullerton distance runner Steve Frisone won the 5,000 meters at the Steve Scott Invitational track meet last weekend. . . . Jill Matyuch, who played basketball and softball at Fullerton, will be an assistant coach for the Charlotte (N.C.)-based Carolina Diamonds franchise in the new Women’s Professional Fastpitch softball league. . . . Jerome Alviso had seven hits in each of the last two series and leads the baseball team in batting (.391).

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Coming Attractions

Here’s a look at key upcoming games for Cal State Fullerton:

* Baseball against UC Santa Barbara 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday, at Titan Field.

* Men’s and women’s track, Occidental Invitational, 4 p.m. Saturday at Occidental.