1544 Miles to Omaha

Welcome into Episode 86 of the 1544 Miles to Omaha Podcast. Today's guest is once again, Cal State Fullerton Baseball Head Coach Jason Dietrich. In today's episode recorded a week prior to classes starting, coach Dietrich touches on the MLB Draft, which recruits made it to campus, staying competitive in the face of NIL and the transfer portal along other topics.Highlights include:🎙️ Overcoming the dreadful 2024 Season (3:11)🎙️ Notable contributors coming out of summer ball (4:54)🎙️ Replacing 3 pitchers drafted (6:10)🎙️ Lots of changes to coaching staff (8:52)🎙️ Junior College Newcomers compared to transfer portal (14:23)🎙️ Recruits that went undrafted in danger of going pro (10:08)🎙️ Thoughts on the 4 transfer portal additions (11:53)🎙️ New faces that could contribute in spring (14:13)🎙️ Recruits that avoided the draft (20:29)🎙️ How can CSUF stay competitive in the face of transfer portal era (21:46)🎙️ What can Titan Baseball do to stay competitive with NIL (24:06)🎙️ Staying competitive if NCAA allows 34 full ride scholarships (26:43)🎙️ Fall schedule in preparation for 2025 (28:16)▶️ Visit our website: calstateomaha.com▶️ Follow us on Twitter/X: @CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/calstateomaha▶️ Follow us on Instagram: @calstateomaha▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

A lot of great short stops have come through the doors at Cal State Fullerton, Christian Colon is arguably one of the best to have ever worn the Blue and Orange. A three-year player at Fullerton, Colon played for the Titans from 2008 through 2010 and was drafted fourth overall by the Kansas City Royals in 2010. (What's notable about that 2010 draft, Colon and teammate Gary Brown were both drafted in the first round. That is the only year multiple Titans were selected in the first round of the same draft.)During his time at Fullerton, Colon batted .349 with 29 home runs and drove in 147 runs. His 17 home runs in 2010 led the team and he currently still ranks in the top 10 in numerous Titan Baseball categories. His single season records with the Titans has him ranked tied for eighth with Sam Favata for runs scored at 82 in 2009. His 21 sacrifice hits in 2008 ranks second for a single season and is a Titans freshman record. Talking about sacrificing his body, he is tied for sixth with Ivory Thomas and Reed Johnson being hit by a pitch in 2009.For his three-year career in college, Colon's 766 at-bats ranks 8th but first among 3-year players. His 267 hits ranks sixth all time but again, ranks first among three-year players, ahead of other notable 3-year Titans like Mark Kotsay and Phil Nevin. Colon scored 214 runs in his Titan career, again, tops among three-year players. Christian was not only good at the plate, but he also had an excellent glove recoding 219 assists in 2010 which ranks third for a single season and 547 total assists in three years. Those 547 assists ranks fourth all time in Titan Baseball history and you guessed it, ranks No. 1 among three-year Titans. Only David Bacani, Justin Turner and Shane Turner, all four-year Titans, have more assists than Colon.An All-American all three years on campus, Colon also played for the Team USA Collegiate National teams in 2008 and 2009. Drafted fourth overall by the Kansas City Royals, Colon would make his debut July 1, 2014 with the Kansas City Royals. Playing six years in Major League Baseball with the Royals, Maimi Marlins and Cincinnati Reds, Colon's seminal moment came in Game 5 of the 2015 World Series vs. the New York Mets.Tied 2-2 in the Top of the 12th inning with Jarrod Dyson on third with one out, Colon gets a pinch-hit opportunity facing Addison Reed. On a 1-2 count, Colon hits a single into left field scoring Dyson to score the go-ahead run. Recently Colon was named the manager of the Arkansas Travelers, the Double - A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. Highlights include:🎙️ Growing up and moving as a kid (8:43)🎙️ Choosing Cal State Fullerton (15:00)🎙️ Choosing college over the MLB draft out of high school (22:08)🎙️ Frosh year at CSUF (25:57)🎙️ Broken leg before Junior year (36:10)🎙️ Draft day (44:42)🎙️ 2010 Super Regionals vs. UCLA (49:53)🎙️ Starting professional career (51:46)🎙️ Getting called up to the Show (58:21)🎙️ Hit & stolen base in 2014 AL Wild Card (60:29)🎙️ Now manager of Arkansas Travelers (1:08:37)▶️ Visit our website: CalStateOmaha.com▶️ Follow us on Twitter: @CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/calstateomaha▶️ Follow us on Instagram: @calstateomaha▶️ Follow Christian Colon on Instagram: @christiancolon24▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Welcome into Episode 84 of the 1544 Miles to Omaha Podcast. Today's guest, Spencer Oborn, is arguably one of the greatest "one and done" players to have worn the Fullerton Orange and Navy Blue uniform.Oborn played for the Titans for the 1999 season and is ranked in the top ten in numerous single season achievements for the Titans. For that one season, Oborn hit .395, blasting 14 home runs and driving in 82 runs. His 104 hits in 1999 ranks tied for seventh with Kurt Suzuki for hits in a season. He hit seven triples which ranks tied for fourth with the likes of Hank LoForte, Gary Brown, Jose Mota and Matt Vejar. Those 82 runs batted in ranks tied for 10th with Titans Slugger Jared Clark. Oborn touched 182 total bases that season which ranks sixth in Titans single season history. Oborn's fantastic season did not go unnoticed earning Baseball America All-American 3rd team honors, Big West 1st team all-conference and named the Big West Conference Player of the Year.Selected in the 14th round of the 1999 MLB draft by the Chicago White Sox, Oborn played three seasons in the White Sox organization playing in the Midwest and Carolina Leagues.Episode Highlights include:🎙️ Growing up Spencer Oborn (5:30)🎙️ Playing for BYU first (9:32)🎙️ Choosing to transfer & come to CSUF (12:29)🎙️ First impression when joining the 1999 Titans (20:57)🎙️ 37-game hit streak (26:44)🎙️ Why so much success at the plate (34:30)🎙️ Draft Day 1999 (39:25)🎙️ South Bend Regional (42:37)🎙️ Choosing to stay on the road after South Bend (44:46)🎙️ Super Regional at Ohio State (51:00)🎙️ Omaha (53:11)🎙️ Game 1 vs. Stanford (55:00)🎙️ Game 2 vs. Texas A&M (57:20)🎙️ Game 3 vs. Florida State (58:17)🎙️ Once a Titan, Always a Titan (1:02:22)🎙️ Going to play professionally (1:05:07)🎙️ Coaching youth baseball now (1: 12:17)▶️ Visit our website: calstateomaha.com▶️ Follow us on Twitter: @CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/calstateomaha▶️ Follow us on Instagram: @calstateomaha▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Welcome into Episode 83 of the 1544 Miles to Omaha Podcast. Today's guest is once again, Cal State Fullerton Baseball Head Coach Jason Dietrich.In today's episode we'll touch on heading into his third season as the head coach of the storied Titan Baseball program, updates from the summer, getting his thoughts on the MLB Draft, incoming transfers and signees along with what to expect with the upcoming fall practices. Highlights include:🎙️ Catching up from the summer (2:16)🎙️ Advantage of maintaining same staff for three years (4:21)🎙️ Jake Pavletich 3rd paid assistant (5:29)🎙️ Titans that had a good summer ball (6:47)🎙️ Thoughts regarding 4 titans leaving via MLB draft (8:52)🎙️ Recruits that went undrafted in danger of going pro (10:08)🎙️ Thoughts on the 4 transfer portal additions (11:53)🎙️ New faces that could contribute in spring (14:13)🎙️ Players could shift to corner infield positions (16:20)🎙️ Players competing for outfield spots (17:43)🎙️ Predicting the weekend starters (19:22)🎙️ Road Fall Scrimmage opponent & date announced (20:43)🎙️ Spring Schedule still getting finalized (21:45)▶️ Visit our website: calstateomaha.com▶️ Follow us on X/Twitter:@CalStateOmaha ▶️ Follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/calstateomaha▶️ Follow us on Instagram: @calstateomaha▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Welcome into Episode 82 of the 1544 Miles to Omaha Podcast. Our guest is once again, Cal State Fullerton Baseball Head Coach Jason Dietrich.We'll be discussing with coach the 2023 season, his second complete season as head coach of the historic and tradition rich program. The 2023 Titans finished the year 32-24, 20-10 in the Big West Conference and earned the automatic bid into the postseason playing in the Stanford Regional in Palo Alto. There the Titan went 1-2 eliminating San Jose State and preserving the streak of never going 0-2 in a Regional. Highlights include:🎙️ Comparing Year 1 to Year 2 as Head Coach of Titan Baseball (2:18)🎙️ Getting the team to mesh in 2023 (3:46)🎙️ How did the Titan get hot in March & April (5:09)🎙️ Losing streak in May (7:06)🎙️ Players reaction to going to postseason for 1st time (9:32)🎙️ Postseason reaction as a head coach (11:18)🎙️ Thoughts on seniors Lew, White, Chester & Stultz (12:43)🎙️ Ambiguity of the MLB draft & preparing for guys leaving or coming back (14:00)🎙️ Titans playing in Keith LeClair Classic in 2024 (18:52)🎙️ Staying competitive in the transfer portal (20:21)🎙️ NIL & transfer portal turning College Baseball into MLB free agency? (19:45)🎙️ Building blocks from 20233 to 2024 (26:00)▶️ Visit our website: CalStateOmaha.com▶️ Follow us on Twitter: @CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/calstateomaha▶️ Follow us on Instagram: @calstateomaha▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

In Episode 81, Cal State Fullerton All American Mike Parisi joins Dave Lamm via Twitter Spaces to discuss the final regular season weekend series vs. Cal Poly and gaining a berth into the NCAA Regionals after a 5 year layoff.Please subscribe to the show on whatever platform you are listening and share with family and friends. While there, please leave a 5 star rating and review. This helps other fans find the show more easily. ▶️ Visit our website: calstateomaha.com▶️ Follow us on Twitter: @CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/calstateomaha▶️ Follow us on Instagram: @calstateomaha▶️ Follow Mike Parisi on Twitter: @michael_parisi▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Warning - This podcast contains foul language and discusses adult subject matters that some may find objectionable. Listener discretion is advised.In Episode 80, we brought together members of the 1993 Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State baseball teams that took part in one of the most infamous brawls in college baseball history.30 years ago on April 16, 1993, a brawl broke out in the top of the fourth inning, when Long Beach catcher Brian Whatley plowed into Fullerton catcher Bret Hemphill during a rundown that precipitated a bench-clearing brawl. The brawl delayed the game roughly 15 minutes and resulted in four ejections.Later on in the podcast we will lay out the exact details of the game and the brawl as described by Los Angeles Times staff writer Scott Miller published the following day.We gathered together a number of Titans and Dirtbags from those 1993 teams and brought them together via Twitter Spaces in a roundtable discussion, each sharing their perspective on that fateful night. Those that joined us from the Titans included:Mike Parisi - PitcherDC Olsen - First BasemanDante Powell - OutfielderFrom Long Beach those that joined included: Tim Falsken - 3rd BasemanRudy Rodriguez - Shortstop(Catcher Brian Whatley wanted to join the conversation but was on a flight at the time and was unable to use his phone.)Please subscribe to the show on whatever platform you are listening and share with family and friends. While there, please leave a 5 star rating and review. This helps other fans find the show more easily.▶️ Visit our website: CalStateOmaha.com▶️ Follow us on Twitter: @CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/calstateomaha▶️ Follow us on Instagram: Instagram.com/calstateomaha▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

In Episode 79, Cal State Fullerton All American Mike Parisi joins Dave Lamm via the phone to discuss and recap the weekend series vs. TCU and also the UCLA game.Despite losing two out of three in Fort Worth and dropping the mid-week game at UCLA, the non-conference losses have not affected Cal State Fullerton's standing in the Big West Conference. The Titans enter the weekend series vs. UC San Diego with a magic number of 7, meaning a mixed combination of seven Fullerton wins and UC Santa Barbara loses would clinch the Big West title for the Titans.Please subscribe to the show on whatever platform you are listening and share with family and friends. While there, please leave a 5 star rating and review. This helps other fans find the show more easily. ▶️ Visit our website: calstateomaha.com▶️ Follow us on Twitter: @CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/calstateomaha▶️ Follow us on Instagram: @calstateomaha▶️ Follow Mike Parisi on Twitter: @michael_parisi▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

In Episode 78, Cal State Fullerton All American Mike Parisi joins Dave Lamm via the phone to discuss and recap the weekend series vs. UC Riverside and also the Loyola Marymount game.Cal State Fullerton sits atop the Big West Conference standings at 12-3, with a 2.5 game lead over the next postseason-eligible team in the standings, CSUN.Please subscribe to the show on whatever platform you are listening and share with family and friends. While there, please leave a 5 star rating and review. This helps other fans find the show more easily. ▶️ Visit our website:calstateomaha.com▶️ Follow us on Twitter: @CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/calstateomaha▶️ Follow us on Instagram: @calstateomaha▶️ Follow Mike Parisi on Twitter: @michael_parisi▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Episode 77 of the 1544 Miles to Omaha podcast features a conversation with former Titan Baseball player, Assistant Coach and Head Coach, George Horton.On Friday, April 21, 2023, George Horton's number 8 jersey number will be retired during a pre-game ceremony prior to the opening of the Cal State Fullerton vs. Cal State Bakersfield series.As player, Horton wore the number 8 from 1975 and 1976 and as a coach from 1991 to 2007. After Horton departed in 2007, a handful of players have worn the number 8 but no one ever will moving forward.We took this opportunity to speak with Coach Horton and give him the opportunity to thank those that have helped him get to this point, He also reflected on some of his successes as a coach and as a mentor while also thanking those that were integral not only in the team's success on the field but his own.Highlights include:🎙️ Reflections on No. 8 getting retired (2:38) 🎙️ Preview of the festivities planned (5:41)🎙️ Experiences with Team USA (8:39)🎙️ Retiring number idea came from Coach Dietrich (12:07)🎙️ Establishing a criteria to get a number retired (16:50)🎙️ Jason Dietrich efforts to welcome in Titan Baseball alumni (21:13)🎙️ Number retired in Dietrich's second year (23:50)🎙️ ABCA Hall of Fame induction (28:36)🎙️ Former players successful outside of baseball (33:39)🎙️ Thanks to all that brought him to this point (43:05)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/calstateomaha.com▶️ Follow us on Twitter: @CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/calstateomaha▶️ Follow us on Instagram: @calstateomaha▶️ Follow George Horton on Twitter: @G_Horton8▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

In Episode 76, Cal State Fullerton All American Mike Parisi joins Dave Lamm via Twitter Spaces to discuss and recap the weekend series vs. UCSB during the final innings of the USC game. The Titans currently sit in second place behind UC San Diego in the Big West standings and have won six consecutive weekend series.Dave and Mike have made this type of conversation recapping the week that was and previewing the next week's opponents a regular weekly feature on Twitter Spaces. For those that want to listen live or perhaps participate and ask questions, we encourage you to join us on Twitter Spaces. For those that can not listen live, those conversations will then be made available on replay and available via this podcast. Please subscribe to the show on whatever platform you are listening and share with family and friends. While there, please leave a 5 star rating and review. This helps other fans find the show more easily. ▶️ Visit our website: calstateomaha.com▶️ Follow us on Twitter: @CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/calstateomaha▶️ Follow us on Instagram: @calstateomaha▶️ Follow Mike Parisi on Twitter: @michael_parisi▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

In Episode 75, Cal State Fullerton All American Mike Parisi, joins Dave Lamm via the phone to discuss and recap the weekend series vs. Hawai'i. The Titans record sits at 14-9 (7-2 in the Big West) with a 2-1 series win over HAwai'i.The Titans open up a crucial three-game series, hosting UC Santa Barbara in a match-up that will determine the leader in the Big West Conference thus far.Dave and Mike have made this type of conversation recapping the week that was and previewing the next week's opponents a regular weekly feature on Twitter Spaces. Unfortunately, scheduling preventing it from happening this week but hopefully will resume next week. Those conversations will then be made available on replay and available via this podcast.Please subscribe to the show on whatever platform you are listening and share with family and friends. While there, please leave a 5 star rating and review. This helps other fans find the show more easily.▶️ Visit our website: calstateomaha.com▶️ Follow us on Twitter: @CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/calstateomaha▶️ Follow us on Instagram: @calstateomaha▶️ Follow Mike Parisi on Twitter: @michael_parisi▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

In Episode 74, Cal State Fullerton All American Mike Parisi, joins Dave Lamm on Twitter Spaces to discuss and recap the weekend series vs. UC Davis and the UCLA Mid-week game. At the end, both preview what to expect out of the Titans' next weekend series opponent, the University of Hawai'i. The Titans record sits at 12-8 with a series sweep vs.UCD and a win on Tuessday vs. UCLA. The Titans are tied with UC Santa Barbara for second place in the Big West Conference, both with a 5-1 conference record.Dave and Mike have made this type of conversation recapping the week that was and previewing the next week's opponents a regular weekly feature on Twitter Spaces. Those conversations will then be made available on replay and available via this podcast. Please subscribe to the show on whatever platform you are listening and share with family and friends. While there, please leave a 5 star rating and review. This helps other fans find the show more easily. ▶️ Visit our website: calstateomaha.com▶️ Follow us on Twitter: @CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/calstateomaha▶️ Follow us on Instagram: @calstateomaha▶️ Follow Mike Parisi on Twitter: @michael_parisi▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

In Episode 73, Cal State Fullerton All American Mike Parisi, joins Dave Lamm on Twitter Spaces to discuss and recap the weekend series vs. UC Irvine. The Titans record sits at 8-8 with a two out of three series win vs.UCI. The Titans are tied for second place in the Big West Conference after the first week of conference play. The Titans hit the road for the third time in 2023, traveling to Davis to take on UC Davis in a three game series.Dave and Mike hope to make this type of conversation recapping the week that was and previewing the next week's opponents a regular weekly feature on Twitter Spaces and then the replay available via this podcast.Please subscribe to the show on whatever platform you are listening and share with family and friends. While there, please leave a 5 star rating and review. This helps other fans find the show more easily. ▶️ Visit our website: calstateomaha.com▶️ Follow us on Twitter: @CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/calstateomaha▶️ Follow us on Instagram:@calstateomaha▶️ Follow Mike Parisi on Twitter: @michael_parisi▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

In Episode 72, Cal State Fullerton All American Mike Parisi, joins Dave Lamm on Twitter Spaces to discuss and recap the weekend series vs. Texas and the mid-week game vs. Utah. The Titans record sits at 4-6 with a two out of three series win vs. Texas but a loss to Utah during the mid-week. The Titans hit the road for the first time in 2023, traveling to Malibu to take on Pepperdine in a three game series.Dave and Mike hope to make this type of conversation recapping the week that was and previewing the next week's opponents a regular weekly feature on Twitter Spaces and then the replay available via this podcast. Please subscribe to the show on whatever platform you are listening and share with family and friends. While there, please leave a 5 star rating and review. This helps other fans find the show more easily. ▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow Mike Parisi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/michael_parisi▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

In Episode 71, Cal State Fullerton All American Mike Parisi, joins Dave Lamm on Twitter Spaces to discuss and recap the weekend series vs. Michigan. Due to weather and field conditions, the Titans only played two games, a double header on Sunday, and had to cancel the final game along with reschedule the mid-week contest with USC. The Titans record sits at 2-4 losing both games of the doubleheader with Michigan.Dave and Mike made this the second weekly conversation recapping the week that was and previewing the next week's opponent.This will become a regular weekly feature on Twitter Spaces and then the replay available via this podcast. Please subscribe to the show on whatever platform you are listening and share with family and friends. While there, please leave a 5 star rating and review. This helps other fans find the show more easily. ▶️ Visit our website: CalStateOmaha.com▶️ Follow us on Twitter: @CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook▶️ Follow us on Instagram: @calstateomaha▶️ Follow Mike Parisi on Twitter: @michael_parisi▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

In Episode 70, Cal State Fullerton All American Mike Parisi, joins Dave Lamm on Twitter Spaces to discuss and recap the weekend series vs. Stanford and the mid-week game vs. Tulane. The Titans record sits at 2-2 with a Friday night win vs. Stanford, losses on Saturday and Sunday and then a walk-off win vs. Tulane on Tuesday. Dave and Mike hope to make this type of conversation recapping the week that was and previewing the next week's opponents a regular weekly feature on Twitter Spaces and then the replay available via this podcast. Please subscribe to the show on whatever platform you are listening and share with family and friends. While there, please leave a 5 star rating and review. This helps other fans find the show more easily. Highlights include:🎙️ Overall impressions on the Stanford weekend series (2:58) 🎙️ Michigan series sates moved due to weather (6:12)🎙️ Titans didn't give up despite adversity (9:10)🎙️ Newcomers making big impacts early (12:50)🎙️ Consistent line-up all four days (15:13)🎙️ Sorting out bullpen and starting roles (16:51)🎙️ Number of HRs given up concerning (19:05)🎙️ Assessing the Tulane game (22:24)🎙️ The core returners set the tone (24:56)🎙️ Brendan Bobo, Zach Lew & Caden Connor HRs (26:23)🎙️ Maddox Latta & Max Ortega impressions (28:28)🎙️ Jojo Ingrassia leg injury concerns (31:52)🎙️ Preview of Michigan series (34:24)🎙️ Predicting weekend probables (39:42)▶️ Visit our website: CalStateOmaha.com▶️ Follow us on Twitter: @CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook▶️ Follow us on Instagram: @calstateomaha▶️ Follow Mike Parisi on Twitter: @michael_parisi▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

In Episode 69 we chose to interview Mike Rooney, ESPN and D1Baseball analyst, to discuss the upcoming Titan Baseball Season. We conducted the interview live using Twitter Spaces and have taken the recording and it is now available as a podcast. Please subscribe to the show on whatever platform you are listening and share with family and friends. While there, please leave a 5 star rating and review. This helps other fans find the show more easily. Highlights include:🎙️ Why Mike is bullish on the Titans in 2023 (3:27) 🎙️ Is a 30+ win season for the Titans reasonable? (5:19)🎙️ Thoughts on TCU series coming in May (7:10)🎙️ Why Mike is bullish on the Titans coaching staff (8:21)🎙️ Pros and cons of the head coach doubling as pitching coach (11:13)🎙️ Titan players to keep an eye on in 2023 (12:51)🎙️ Thoughts on Pepperdine transfer Trevor Hinkle (16:05)🎙️ Pitching rotation based on righty or lefty (18:24)🎙️ Finesse pitchers vs. power pitcher in today's college game (20:45)🎙️ Mid-Major baseball programs navigating transfer portal & NIL in 2023 (23:19)🎙️ Opening weekend schedule for Roons (26:28)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow Mike Rooney on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mike_Rooney▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Today's guest is arguably one of the best one and done player in Titan Baseball history, Joe Fraser.Fraser played just one year for Cal State Fullerton, that year... 1995, the year the Titans won their third national championship, defeating the University of Southern California 11-5 in the final game.The 1995 Titans squad is widely considered the greatest college baseball team of all time going 57-9 and became the first No. 1 seed at Omaha to win the title. In that championship game, Fraser started at second base and went 1-for-4 and scored one of the 11 runs the Titans put up at Rosenblatt Stadium that day.A Junior College transfer, Fraser played the 1995 season and was selected in the 27th round of the MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins. During his one year on Fullerton's campus, he averaged .348, hit 7 home runs and drove in 46 runs.Highlights include:🎙️ Growing up Joe Fraser (2:55)🎙️ Find his path in baseball (5:36)🎙️ Going JUCO before Fullerton (7:07)🎙️ Choosing Cal State Fullerton (10:46)🎙️ Joining the team in fall of 1994 (13:26)🎙️ Coming together as a team in Spring (15:35)🎙️ The losing streak of 3 games (17:47)🎙️ The win streak to a championship (20:16)🎙️ 3 CWS games leading to Championship game (21:19)🎙️ Honkey Tonk Women the official song of the '95 team (22:52)🎙️ Recounting the championship game (26:31)🎙️ Augie's scooter (29:42)🎙️ National champions at the White House (31:44)🎙️ Playing pro baseball (33:20)🎙️ Professional career now (35:47)🎙️ Thoughts on the recruiting process now vs. then (38:51)🎙️ Thoughts on current state of the Titans program (42:50)▶️ Visit our website: CalStateOmaha.com▶️ Follow us on Twitter: @CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook▶️ Follow us on Instagram: @calstateomaha▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]▶️ Follow Joe Fraser on Twitter: @joefras8

This is Part 2 of our conversation with Head Baseball Coach of the TCU Horned Frogs Kirk Saarloos. We highly suggest listening to Part 1, Episode 66 prior to listening to this episode. For Titan Baseball fans that may not be as well versed on Titan Baseball and history, Saarloos pitched four years while at Cal State Fullerton from 1998 through 2001. His name is littered throughout the Titan Baseball Media Guide, appearing 40 times, with over half of those mentions within the top 10 in either season long or career pitching statistics.A strikeout pitcher if there ever was one, Saarloos racked up 358 Ks in four years in 127 appearances which he still ranks No. 1 pulling duty as a starter and a reliever where he racked up 22 saves. He still ranks No. 2 in career wins with 33 and averaged 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings.We can not fail to mention in his senior campaign in 2001, Saarloos threw the third no-hitter in Titan Baseball history, pitching a 28-0 shutout over the University of Pacific. 2001 was a terrific year for Saarloos taking the pitching triple cown for the Titans in ERA at 2.18, wins (15) and strikeouts with 135. An All-American and a member of Team USA, Saarloos was selected in the third round by the Houston Astros and would make his MLB debut nearly a year later with Houston on June 18, 2022 becoming the 36th Titans to play in a Major League Baseball game. Saarloos spent seven years in the major leagues, playing for Houston (2002-03), Oakland (2004-06, 08) and Cincinnati (2007). Saarloos made history on June 11, 2003 as he was one of a major league record six Astro pitchers to combine for a no-hitter against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.Many remember Saarloos returning to Cal State Fullerton as an assistant coach. He spent his first season on staff as an undergraduate assistant for Dave Serrano. Saarloos moved into the role of pitching coach when Rick Vanderhook took over the head coaching duties in the summer of 2011. He remained on the Titan staff for two seasons before becoming an assistant at TCU in 2013. It should be noted that following Saarloos in the Pitching Coach role for Titans Baseball was current Head Baseball coach Jason Dietrich, guiding the Titans arms from 2013 through the 2016 seasons. Saarloos started his head coaching career this past season and was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year while guiding the Frogs to the Big 12 Regular season title.And finally, the Saarloos Family is a major part of the Titan Baseball Family with an outfield wall sign that reads, "The Saarloos Family says good Luck Titans. Only 1,544 Miles to Omaha". As you might imagine, that sign was the inspiration to name this podcast the 1544 Miles to Omaha Podcast.Highlights include:🎙️ Starting professional baseball career (2:45)🎙️ Getting the call up to the big club (5:42)🎙️ Getting pranked by Jeff Bagwell (10:04)🎙️ Combined No-hitter vs. NY Yankees (11:52)🎙️ Nemisis hitters in the big leagues (13:45)🎙️ Starting coaching career (16:18)🎙️ Becoming a Head Coach (19:07)🎙️ Fondness for Omaha (21:10)🎙️ 4 trips to Omaha in 4 years w/ TCU (23:50)🎙️ Hosting Cal State Fullerton in May 2023 (26:42)🎙️ Preview of TCU vs. CSUF (28:17)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]▶️ Follow Kirk Saarloos on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kirk_saarloos▶️ Follow Kirk Saarloos on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kirk.saarloos.7▶️ Follow Kirk Saarloos on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirksaarloos/

Today's guest is current Head Baseball Coach of the TCU Horned Frogs, Kirk Saarloos.For Titan Baseball fans that may not be as well versed on Titan Baseball and history, Saarloos pitched four years while at Cal State Fullerton from 1998 through 2001. His name is littered throughout the Titan Baseball Media Guide, appearing 40 times, with over half of those mentions within the top 10 in either season long or career pitching statistics.A strikeout pitcher if there ever was one, Saarloos racked up 358 Ks in four years in 127 appearances which he still ranks No. 1 pulling duty as a starter and a reliever where he racked up 22 saves. He still ranks No. 2 in career wins with 33 and averaged 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings.We can not fail to mention in his senior campaign in 2001, Saarloos threw the third no-hitter in Titan Baseball history, pitching a 28-0 shutout over the University of Pacific. 2001 was a terrific year for Saarloos taking the pitching triple cown for the Titans in ERA at 2.18, wins (15) and strikeouts with 135.An All-American and a member of Team USA, Saarloos was selected in the third round by the Houston Astros and would make his MLB debut nearly a year later with Houston on June 18, 2022 becoming the 36th Titans to play in a Major League Baseball game. Saarloos spent seven years in the major leagues, playing for the Houston Astros (2002-03), Oakland A's (2004-06, 08) and Cincinnati Reds (2007). Saarloos made history on June 11, 2003 as he was one of a major league record six Astro pitchers to combine for a no-hitter against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.Many remember Saarloos returning to Cal State Fullerton as an assistant coach. He spent his first season on staff as an undergraduate assistant for Dave Serrano. Saarloos moved into the role of pitching coach when Rick Vanderhook took over the head coaching duties in the summer of 2011. He remained on the Titan staff for two seasons before becoming an assistant at TCU in 2013. It should be noted that following Saarloos in the Pitching Coach role for Titans Baseball was current Head Baseball coach Jason Dietrich, guiding the Titans arms from 2013 through the 2016 seasons. Saarloos started his head coaching career this past season and was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year while guiding the Frogs to the Big 12 Regular season title.And finally, the Saarloos Family is a major part of the Titan Baseball Family with an outfield wall sign that reads, "The Saarloos Family says good Luck Titans. Only 1,544 Miles to Omaha".As you might imagine, that sign was the inspiration to name this podcast the 1544 Miles to Omaha Podcast.Highlights include:🎙️ Growing up in the 80's and 90's (4:40)🎙️ Gravitating to baseball (6:37)🎙️ Frosh year at Cal State Fullerton (10:52)🎙️ How the Saarloos Family Sign came to be (14:46)🎙️ Sophomore year & Super Regionals (18:35)🎙️ Going to Omaha in 1999 (23:06)🎙️ Finally hosting a Regional at home (24:57)🎙️ Playing for Team USA summer 2000 (25:30)🎙️ Senior season 2001 & the No-Hitter (28:00)🎙️ Hosting the 2001 Super Regional (34:27)🎙️ Getting Drafted by the Astros (35:30)🎙️ CWS Game 1 vs. Nebraska in Omaha (38:05)🎙️ Enormous strike zone in Game 1 (40:24)🎙️ Pitching vs. Stanford in Omaha (42:26)▶️ Visit our website: CalStateOmaha.com▶️ Follow us on Twitter: @CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/calstateomaha▶️ Follow us on Instagram: @calstateomaha▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]▶️ Follow Kirk Saarloos on Twitter: @kirk_saarloos▶️ Follow Kirk Saarloos on Facebook: Facebook.com/kirk.saarloos.7▶️ Follow Kirk Saarloos on Instagram: @kirksaarloos

Welcome into Episode 65 of the 1544 Miles to Omaha Podcast. Today's guest is once again, Cal State Fullerton Baseball Head Coach Jason Dietrich. In today's episode we'll be discussing with coach the end of the fall ball practices, the two scrimmages against UNLV and Washington State, the Navy vs. Orange three game series and which players impressed the most, improved the most, any surprises coming out of the fall session and also discuss the Titan Baseball 2023 schedule.Highlights include:🎙️ Putting together the 2023 Titan Baseball schedule (2:33)🎙️ Little travel outside of California in 2023 (4:30)🎙️ 30 Home games on the 2023 schedule (5:51)🎙️ Overall impression exiting fall practices (6:50)🎙️ Thoughts coming out Washington State scrimmage (8:05)🎙️ Thoughts coming out of UNLV scrimmage (9:25)🎙️ Navy vs. Orange Series recap (10:59)🎙️ Fall practices for Nankil, Ortega & Lopez (15:18)🎙️ Wallace, Hinkle, Ingrassia, Nushida (16:52)🎙️ Pitchers to challenge for weekend starts (18:24)🎙️ Closer role up in the air (19:45)🎙️ Thoughts on 2023 Recruiting Class (20:09)🎙️ Activities for coaches & players before spring (22:04)🎙️ Preview of Alumni game January 26 (24:25)🎙️ Preview of Dinner with the titans (25:43)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

In Episode 64 we're speaking with Titan Baseball Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Josh Belovsky who, along with Head Coach Jason Dietrich and Assistant Coach Neil Walton, recently signed 11 student-athletes to national letters of intent to play for the Titans. The second class and the first class that is solely under the Dietrich regime is arm heavy with seven of the 11 signees pitchers including five right handers and two left handers. Offensively this class includes three infielders and one outfielder. Two of the pitchers were also listed as a dual threats as infielders as well.In this episode, Coach Belovsky talks about the 2022 signing class and what Titan Baseball fans can expect to from these recruits once they arrive on campus.Highlights include:🎙️ Overall impression of 2022 recruiting class (2:15)🎙️ Recruiting ranking improved 20 spots over previous year (3:14)🎙️ 2022 class is arm heavy (3:40)🎙️ Chad Gurnea - RHP/Infielder - Garden Grove, Calif. (4:13)🎙️ Payton Hawkinson - LHP - Turlock, Calif. (5:23)🎙️ Chris Hernandez - RHP - Bakersfield, Calif. (6:01)🎙️ Tyler Holley - Infielder - La Verne, Calif. (6:44)🎙️ Jason Krakoski - RHP - Livermore, Calif. (7:20)🎙️ Marcos Rosales - Infielder - West Covina, Calif. (8:10)🎙️ Ny'Zaiah Thompson - Outfielder - Oakland, Calif. (8:50)🎙️ Derek Turner - RHP/Infielder - Thousand Oaks, Calif. (9:20)🎙️ Andrew Wright - LHP - Woodbridge, Calif. (10:16)🎙️ Challenge of retaining recruits that get attention from professional scouts (10:37)🎙️ Targeting players that will come to school and not go pro (12:21)🎙️ Continuously recruiting existing class and future classes (15:10)🎙️ Current recruits keeping the class together (16:24)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow Josh Belovsky on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jbelo13▶️ Follow Josh Belovsky on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/JBelo13/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

This episode of the 1544 Miles to Omaha Podcast features a one-on-one sit down interview with Titan Baseball head coach, Jason Dietrich. Heading into the 2022 summer, Dietz and staff were heavily focused on recruiting for the 2023 Titan Baseball team and future teams.We sat down to discuss getting a contract extension after one year on the job, summer recruiting outlook, changes to the coaching staff, evaluation of players in summer ball, newcomers via the transfer portal, the importance of summer ball, what could be done with the players prior to fall practices and the outlook for the 2023 Titan Baseball Schedule.Highlights include:🎙️ Comments on contract extension (2:10)🎙️ Recruiting over the summer of 2022 (2:34)🎙️ Changes in coaching staff (5:25)🎙️ Evaluations of summer ball performances (8:33)🎙️ Brendan Bobo spectacular summer in Wisconsin (9:59)🎙️ The uniqueness of summer ball & tempering expectations (11:11)🎙️ Previewing the D1 players from transfer portal (12:59)🎙️ Limited instruction prior to Fall practices (14:56)🎙️ More confidence heading into Fall practices (16:45)🎙️ WSU & UNLV Fall scrimmages preview (18:24)🎙️ Excited regarding highly competitive 2023 schedule (19:29)🎙️ Fans & the public welcome to view Fall practices (20:09)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

This episode of the 1544 Miles to Omaha Podcast features a one-on-one sit down interview with Titan Baseball head coach, Jason Dietrich.Dietz has been at the helm for nearly a year after his introduction on June 30th last year. We sat down to discuss his first year, how the learning curve will not be as steep going into his second year and what were some of the positives to take away from the 2022 season.Highlights include:🎙️ What he learned in the first year as head coach (2:14)🎙️ Newly discovered aspects of being a head coach (3:52)🎙️ What will come easier with a year under his belt (5:27)🎙️ What's happening this summer before fall classes start (6:30)🎙️ Defining the NCAA recruiting "Dead Periods" (11:02)🎙️ Recruiting the future athletes to be a good fit for Titan Baseball (12:07)🎙️ Titan Baseball is still a brand name on the recruiting trail (14:24)🎙️ Improvements from 2021 to 2022 (16:25)🎙️ Building blocks for 2023 (18:26)🎙️ Prospects of Seniors potentially returning (21:46)🎙️ Stultz & Chester projected to return (22:39)🎙️ Jason Blood & Nacho Alvarez prospects (24:33)🎙️ Trevor Hinkle transfer from Pepperdine (26:13)🎙️ Transfer portal explanation (27:45)🎙️ Recruiting portal athletes techniques (30:01)🎙️ Using the transfer portal for draft leverage (31:57)🎙️ Which returning players excite the staff for next year(33:01)🎙️ Recruiting the summer priority (35:51)🎙️ Keeping up with ECU in the NCAA Post-season (38:21)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Dave Weatherman is considered the ultimate workhors pitcher in Titan Baseball program history. We had the pleasure and honor to get him on the phone to discuss his time as a Titan and the incredible run of the 1979 National Championship team.This is Part 3 of our conversation. We encourage you to listen to Parts 1 & 2 to gain context on the topics he previously discussed. Those include:Growing up in Southern California, getting recruited in the late 1970's, choosing CSUF over all others, freshman year at Cal State Fullerton, playing in a regional in Freshman year, geting ranked No. 1 in 1979, Fresno State regional, Getting to play in Rosenblatt, getting the ball in the championship game and returning home a champion.🎙️ Motivated ot get drafted as a Junior (2:16)🎙️ Getting beat by eventual champion two times now (12:05)🎙️ Senior Year at Cal State Fullerton (13:10)🎙️ Gaining the Titan "Grinder" attitude (19:00)🎙️ Going pro (20:55)🎙️ Invited to Spring Training (26:41)🎙️ Life after baseball (40:16)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Dave Weatherman is considered the ultimate workhorse pitcher in Titan Baseball program history. We had the pleasure and honor to get him on the phone to discuss his time as a Titan and the incredible run of the 1979 National Championship team.This is Part 2 of our conversation. We encourage you to listen to Part 1 to gain context on the topics he previously discussed. Those include:Growing up in Southern California, getting recruited in the late 1970's, choosing CSUF over all others, freshman year at Cal State Fullerton and playing in a regional in Freshman year.Part 2 Highlights include:🎙️ Heading into Fall 1978 and preparing for 1979 season (2:01)🎙️ Playing stiff competition in Fall 1978 (5:34)🎙️ The Spring 1979 regular season (7:30)🎙️ Getting Ranked No. 1 after Hawaii series (13:36)🎙️ 1979 Fresno State Regional (15:01)🎙️ Finally going to Omaha (19:14)🎙️ Getting to play in Rosenblatt Stadium (22:34)🎙️ The shock of losing Game 1 vs. Mississippi State (24:03)🎙️ Familiar foes facing off in Omaha (29:14)🎙️ Getting the ball in the championship game (33:36)🎙️ Champions! (8:27)🎙️ Returning home champions (47:32)🎙️ Video copy of the Championship game a rare find (51:31)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Cal State Fullerton's Titan Baseball program would be just another small school mired in obscurity without pitching and defense to carry the water in the program's initial years after breaking into the Division One ranks. Right Handed Pitcher Dave Weatherman was one of the biggest reasons the Titans made their mark so quickly at the highest levels of College Baseball from 1978 to 1981. Weatherman's name is littered throughout the Titan Baseball Record book for both career and single-season pitching records. Weatherman is tied for second for wins in a single season with 15 wins in 1979, the year the Titans would win their first National Championship. In 1981, Weatherman tossed eight complete games en route to getting drafted in the 13th round by Oakland that same year. The ultimate workhorse pitcher for the Titans, Weatherman ranks No. 1 in numerous pitching categories including innings pitched (453.1), wins (42) and complete games (25) from 1978 to 1981. Weatherman and Mark Beck hold the Freshman record for complete games, going the distance five times as a freshman. In three out of his four years as a Titan, Weatherman led the team in wins with 9 in 1978, 15 in 1979 and 10 in 1981. This is Part one of a three part series with Dave WeathemanPart 1 highlights include:🎙️ Reaction to name in record book so many times (3:51)🎙️ State of college baseball today vs. his era. (5:38)🎙️ Friendship with Ronnie Prettyman (8:27)🎙️ Growing up in Southern California (9:49)🎙️ Getting recruited in the late 1970's (16:06)🎙️ Choosing CSUF over all others (22:13)🎙️ Freshman year at Cal State Fullerton (25:33)🎙️ Realizing he was in the presence of great players (36:14)🎙️ Regional in Freshman year (38:30)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

This is Episode 58 where we continue our conversation with Sam Favata. In part 1 we covered his youth growing up in Southern California the impact Augie Garrido had on him as a player and a person, hitting four home runs in a single game and advancing to the 1979 College World Series. In Part 2 of a three part conversation, we covered Favata's time at the 1979 College World Series, his junior year at Cal State Fullerton in 1980, getting drafted and playing professionally. We highly encourage you to listen to Parts 1 & 2 before listening to Part 3 for context. This is Part 3 where we covered his professional career, his catastrophic brain injury, his comeback and eventually walking away from baseball. Please enjoy part 3 of our conversation with Sam Favata.Part 3 highlights include:🎙️ Getting hit in the head in Modesto (1:36)🎙️ Road to recovery (11:56)🎙️ Playing Pro baseball in less than a year (16:54)🎙️ Getting contacted by "That's Incredible" TV Show (18:44)🎙️ Audio from segment on "That's Incredible" (20:01)🎙️ First professional at-bat after getting hit (29:31)🎙️ Walking away from baseball (33:11)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

This is Episode 57 where we continue our conversation with Sam Favata. In part 1 we covered his youth growing up in Southern California the impact Augie Garrido had on him as a player and a person, hitting four home runs in a single game and advancing to the 1979 College World Series. We highly suggest listening to Part 1 if you have not already.This is Part 2 of a three part conversation. This episode will cover Favata's time at the 1979 College World Series, his junior year at Cal State Fullerton in 1980, getting drafted and playing professionally. We will also cover his catastrophic head injury suffered while playing professional baseball and his miraculous comeback that was featured on the popular 1980's TV show, "That's Incredible" in Part 3. Please enjoy part 2 of our conversation with Sam Favata.Part 2 highlights include:🎙️ Omaha in 1979 (2:57)🎙️ Losing Game 1 to Mississippi State (5:39)🎙️ Shocking the world & proving everyone wrong (11:03)🎙️ Championship game vs. Arkansas (15:13)🎙️ Leaving Omaha a CWS Champion (22:59)🎙️ Lack of TV exposure in 1979 (27:25)🎙️ Playing Summer Ball in Alaska (29:58)🎙️ Entering Junior year at CSUF (30:56)🎙️ Drafted by the Brewers (34:03)🎙️ First MLB Spring Training (37:22)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

In Episode 56 we're talking with Sam Favata, the first Titan Alumni from the 1979 National Championship team to come on the show. Favata scored the winning run in the 1979 championship game, a 2-to-1 victory over Arkansas. Favata was a two-time all conference selection in 1979 and 1980 and still holds numerous records in the Titan Baseball history books. Favata's 66 stolen bases in 1979 season still ranks No. 1 today for the most stolen bases by a Titan in a single season. His 116 hits in 1979 is tied for first with John Fishel's 116 hits in the Titans second national championship year of 1984. In the 1979 season, Favata's .417 batting average led the Titans, beating out Golden Spikes Award winner Tim Wallach for the top batting average. That .417 batting average ranks fourth all time for a single season behind Gary Brown, Steve Woodward and Mark Kotsay. In three season with the Titans, Favata averaged .363 with 22 home runs and 109 RBI. In 1980, Favata was drafted in the 13th round by the Milwaukee Brewers. This is Part 1 of a two part conversation and Episode 57 will cover Favata's time at the 1979 College World Series, his junior year at Cal State Fullerton in 1980, getting drafted and playing professionally. We will also cover his catastrophic head injury suffered while playing professional baseball and his miraculous comeback that was featured on the popular 1980's TV show, "That's Incredible". Part 1 highlights include:🎙️ Growing up in Southern California (5:18)🎙️ Choosing baseball over other sports (8:11)🎙️ Friendship with Steve Garvey (10:54)🎙️ Hearing Augie Garrido speak as a teenager (13:31)🎙️ Getting recruited in the late 1970's (14:10)🎙️ Augie as a recruiter (18:21)🎙️ Freshman year at Cal State Fullerton (23:16)🎙️ Not a starter and almost quit (25:15)🎙️ Becoming a Grinder (31:18)🎙️ Being in the presence of greatness in 1979 (37:02)🎙️ Coming together as a team in 1979 (38:38)🎙️ Reactions to the few times the team lost (41:08)🎙️ Hitting four home runs in a single game (49:01)🎙️ 1979 Regionals at Fresno State (55:11)🎙️ Preparing to go to Omaha (1:01:26)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Welcome into Episode 55 of the 1544 Miles to Omaha podcast. This is Part 4 of our conversation with legendary Cal State Fullerton coaches Rick Vanderhook and George Horton.Continuing our conversation talking about some of the greatest Titan Baseball players to ever put on a uniform, we cover the intangible aspects of Titan Baseball that helped propel it to be one of the most iconic and most successful programs in college baseball. We delve into who was a great clutch performer, great performances by part-time players, strongest players, slash hitters, base stealers, great students and not able bat boys/girls. We highly suggest listening to Episode 52, the Part 1 of this series, Episode 53, the Part 2 of this series and Episode 54, the Part 3 of this series to gain context on the intent and spirit of these conversations.Part 4 highlights include:Greatest clutch performers (2:06)Greatest performance by a part time player (9:51)Strongest player (15:31)Great slash hitters (18:57)Great base stealer (22:45)Great student (26:39)Great bat boy (32:03)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow George Horton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/G_Horton8▶️ Follow Rick Vanderhook on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rick_vanderhook▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Welcome into Episode 54 of the 1544 Miles to Omaha podcast. This is Part 3 of our conversation with legendary Cal State Fullerton coaches Rick Vanderhook and George Horton.Continuing our conversation talking about some of the greatest Titan Baseball players to ever put on a uniform, we tackle the off the field aspects of Titan Baseball that helped propel it to be one of the most iconic and sucessful programs in college baseball. We delve into who was a great clubhouse guy, great recruiting visit host, toughest players and those who had great baseball IQ. We highly suggest listening to Episode 52, the Part 1 of this series and Episode 53, the Part 2 of this series to gain context on the intent and spirit of these conversations.Part 3 highlights include:Great clubhouse guy (1:58)Great official visit recruiter (14:00)Toughest players (28:20)Great Baseball IQ (34:03)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow George Horton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/G_Horton8▶️ Follow Rick Vanderhook on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rick_vanderhook▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Welcome into Episode 53 of the 1544 Miles to Omaha podcast. This is Part 2 of our conversation with legendary Cal State Fullerton coaches Rick Vanderhook and George Horton.Continuing our conversation talking about some of the greatest Titan Baseball players to ever put on a uniform, we tackle the defensive sides of things while also touching on intangible items like work ethic. We highly suggest listening to Episode 52, the Part 1 of this series to gain context on the intent and spirit of these conversations.Part 2 highlights include:Great Defensive Catcher (2:13)Great Defensive Infielder (16:54)Hooky story about Tony Martinez (23:57)Great Infield Arm (25:00)Great Defensive Outfielder (26:53)Great Outfield Arm (35:00)Great double play combo (37:04)Biggest “Grinder” (41:42)Horton story about Reed Johnson (44:22)Hooky story about Jim Betzsold (47:04)Great bullpen catchers (49:02)

Welcome into Episode 52 of the 1544 Miles to Omaha podcast. Today's episode is a podcast unlike any other podcast we have ever done. It features not one, but two guests at the same time. On top of that, those guests are two legends of Titan Baseball, George Horton and Rick Vanderhook.Dave had a chance to sit down in the backyard of George Horton's Yorba Linda home and ask both Horton and Hooky to recall some of the greatest players they played with and coached while with Titan Baseball. We wanted to dive into the players and the people that made the Titans so successful over the years that don't show up in the media guide or the box scores. We wanted to know which Titan had the best slider, the best 2-out hitter, who was the best bullpen catcher, best clubhouse guy, even the best part-time player. Both Hooky and Horton were quick to say that choosing to recognize "the best" change-up or "the best" outfield arm was too difficult and would leave too many deserving Titans off the list. In this episode, we chose to recall those great players and recognize all the Titan alumni that fit into the different categories. Our conversation spans from George Horton's era as a player when Titan Baseball joined the ranks of Division 1 all the way through the Rick Vanderhook years. As players, then assistants and eventually head coaches of the Titan Baseball program, who better to ask than the two guys who played and coached at Fullerton and can span the over 45 years of Titan Baseball.Part 1 highlights include:Great contact hitters (5:33)Great Strike-Zone Discipline (12:32)Great Bunters (16:53)Great 2-out hitters (20:45)Hooky story about Shane Costa (23:39)Great Base runners (25:17)Amazing Overall Athletes (30:24)Electric Fastball (39:10)Great Curve ball (47:05)Exploding Slider (54:09)Horton story about Brian Tokarse vs JD Drew (54:33)Great Change-up (1:01:54)Great Control (1:07:58)Hooky story on Eshelman's 1st Walk (1:08:20)Horton story on Dan Naulty hitting batters (1:11:38)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow George Horton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/G_Horton8▶️ Follow Rick Vanderhook on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rick_vanderhook▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

In Episode 51 we're speaking with Brett Kay who played Titan Baseball from the 1999 to 2001 season, playing primarily catcher. In those three years at Fullerton, Titan teams went to Omaha twice in years 1999 and 2001. Kay was behind the plate and caught the third Titan no-hitter when Kirk Saarloos no-hit the UoP Tigers. He also earned All-Big West First team honors in 2001, had a Titan career batting average above .300, was selected in the 8th round by the New York Mets in the 2001 MLB draft and is currently the head baseball coach at JSerra in San Juan Capistrano. Dave caught up with Brett on the JSerra campus recently to discuss growing up in southern California, playing baseball for the Cal State Fullerton Titans, playing professionally and eventually returning home to coach baseball.Highlights include:🎙️ Growing up in Orange County (2:38)🎙️ Concentrating on just baseball in high school (5:31)🎙️ Importance of high school athletes playing multiple sports (7:30)🎙️ Choosing Fullerton and the recruitment process (11:37)🎙️ Freshman year at Fullerton (21:46)🎙️ 1999 the first year of Super Regional format (27:03)🎙️ Sophomore season in 2000 (32:17)🎙️ Preparing for the 2001 season (37:02)🎙️ Catching Kirk Saarlos' No-No (42:20)🎙️ The Sea of Red in Omaha 2001 (46:32)🎙️ Massive strike zone in Game 1 in Omaha (52:11)🎙️ The Omaha experience in 2001 (54:487)🎙️ In the presence of great players (1:00:22)🎙️ Draft day and going pro (1:03:13)🎙️ Plying professionally and transition into coaching (1:07:42)🎙️ Titan Baseball connections on JSerra staff (1:16:37)🎙️ Takeaways from Titans coaches (1:21:05)🎙️ What the future holds for Brett Kay (1:23:51)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow Brett Kay on Twitter: https://twitter.com/coachkay13▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Episode 50 we're speaking with Titan Baseball Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Josh Belovsky who along with Head Coach Jason Dietrich and Assistant Coach Neil Walton recently signed 10 student-athletes to national letters of intent to play for the Titans. The inaugural class includes five pitchers, two catchers, two outfielders and one infielder.Dave was able to catch up with Coach Belovsky to ask some questions about the 2021 signing class and what Titan Baseball fans can expect to from these recruits once they arrive on campus.Highlights include:🎙️ Challenges of recruiting a solid class when the coaching staff was not set until August (2:04)🎙️ Addressing the challenge of retaining commitments from the previous coaching staff to eventually sign in 2021. (5:20)🎙️ Thoughts on the overall signing class (6:58)🎙️ Thoughts on signee Angelo Aleman, an infielder from Maranatha High School (8:04)🎙️ Thoughts on signee Jesse Alfaro, Right-handed Pitcher from Canyon Springs High School (8:45)🎙️ Thoughts on signee Kyle Calzadiaz, Right-handed Pitcher from Walnut High School (9:25)🎙️ Thoughts on signee Aaron Ceniceros, Right-handed Pitcher from El Modena High Schooll (10:17)🎙️ Thoughts on signee Jackson Giacone, Outfielder from Eureka High School (10:17)🎙️ Thoughts on signee Carter Herrera, Right-handed Pitcher from Yucaipa High School (11:10)🎙️ Thoughts on signee Luke Mistone, Right-handed Pitcher Bonita High School (12:56)🎙️ Thoughts on signee Draven Nushida, Outfielder from Kailua, Hawaii (13:51)🎙️ Thoughts on signee Max Ortega, Catcher from St. Mary's High School in Stockton (15:19)🎙️ Thoughts on signee Jack Vanoncini, Catcher from Carlmont High School in Bay Area (16:10)🎙️ Competing with Big West, Pac-12, SEC and Big-12 schools for recruits (17:28)🎙️ Looking at few more JC players to supplement 2021 signing class (19:24)🎙️ Constantly recruiting the next class (20:48)🎙️ Balancing coaching the 2022 Titans while still recruiting in the spring (22:01) 🎙️ Preview of Dinner with the Titans (23:04)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow Josh Belovsky on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jbelo13▶️ Follow Josh Belovsky on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/JBelo13/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Episode 49 we're speaking with Titan Baseball Head Coach Jason Dietrich to discuss his first fall practices, scrimmages against UNLV and Grand Canyon University and the Navy vs. Orange instrasquad World Series. We also talk a bit at the end about the upcoming Dinner with the TitansHighlights include:🎙️ Advantages of coaching a warm weather college baseball team in the fall (2:20)🎙️ Overall impressions after 1st Fall Ball as head coach (4:31)🎙️ To the victors (of the Navy/Blue scrimmage) goes the spoils (6:02)🎙️ 0.36 Team ERA after scrimmages vs. UNLV and GCU (7:42)🎙️ Game approaches towards UNLV and GCU scrimmages (9:37)🎙️ What was learned coming out of UNLV and GCU scrimmages (11:32)🎙️ Deciding who will play for Navy/Orange in Fall World Series (13:16)🎙️ Creating team unity through competition (16:18)🎙️ Small idea of who will be starters come Spring (19:01)🎙️ Middle infield unsettled with high competition (23:36)🎙️ Weekend rotation is still unsettled (22:59)🎙️ Cameron Repetti role as a starter or reliever (25:09)🎙️ JT Navyac potential as SS and pitcher (26:26)🎙️ Michael Weisberg role in 2022 (27:49)🎙️ In-depth look at newcomers to the Titans in 2022 (29:27)🎙️ Jake Gentry transition back to Catcher (31:44)🎙️ Crowded Outfield (33:32)🎙️ Preview of Dinner with the Titans (34:45)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

We are wrapping up our round of interviews with the new faces that have joined the Titan Baseball coaching staff and front office. Today's conversation is with Danny Benedetti who will serve as the Volunteer Assistant on the Titans staff in 2022. Benedetti returns to Orange County where he grew up in Los Alamitos and also played under Jason Dietrich while at Irvine Valley College. He then went on to play at St. John's University where he earned back-to-back All Big East honors and played in the 2008 Houston Regional after helping St. John's win the Big East Tournament.Danny's coaching stops include summer wood bat league stops in the Northwoods and the Hampton Collegiate Summer Leagues, was a graduate assistant at Long Beach State before returning to coach at St, John's and at Manhattan College and most recently at San Diego State. Now at Fullerton, Benedetti brings over nine years of coaching experience and will assist Neil Walton with the offense along with working closely with the catchers and will coach first base during games. Highlights include:🎙️ What it's like to play for Coach Jason Dietrich (2:39)🎙️ What it's like to along side Coach Jason Dietrich (4:06)🎙️ Growing up in Southern California (5:02)🎙️ Playing at St. John's (7:11)🎙️ West Coast vs. East Coast style of baseball (10:27)🎙️ Takeaways from all coaching stops (12:18)🎙️ What can Titan fans expect from his coaching style (13:31)🎙️ Titan offense will be a surprise to many in 2022 (15:22)🎙️ Details on 4 catchers on the roster (17:01)🎙️ Future coaching aspirations (20:07)🎙️ Importance of youth & prospects camps (23:51)🎙️ Anticipation of a new brand of Titan Baseball (26:14)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow Danny Benedetti on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dbenedetti11/▶️ Follow Danny Benedetti on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CoachBenedetti▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Today's guest is Jake Paveltich who has joined the Titan Baseball staff in the role of Director of Player Development. Titan Baseball fans are familiar with Pav after seeing him play for the Titans for four years after redshirting his freshman year. After the heartbreaking loss to Washington in extra innings of Game 3 of the 2018 Super Regional, Pav returned to play his final year of eligibility in 2019 where he wrapped up a career at Goodwin Field batting .276. Pav led the 2019 team in home runs and also finished the 2017 season with zero errors while playing primarily First Base.Pav returns to the Titan Baseball Program after spending two years serving as a graduate assistant at Concordia University in Irvine. While at Concordia, Pav coached next to Titan Alumni Joe Turgeon the head coach at Concordia and Matt Fahey who serves as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator. Highlights include:🎙️ New role as Director of Player Development (2:56)🎙️ Using analytics to help players improve (4:01)🎙️ Becoming a Graduate Assistant after 5th year at CSUF (5:56)🎙️ 2-Sport athlete coming out of high school (7:44)🎙️ Becoming a Titan at HS Graduation Day (9:27)🎙️ Importance of attending prospect camps (12:25)🎙️ Redshirting in 2015 (15:10)🎙️ Freshman getting his first shot (20:32)🎙️ Dream season in 2017 (26:12)🎙️ Wanting to eventually become a coach (30:13)🎙️ 2017 Long Beach Super Regional (31:27)🎙️ 2018 Palo Alto Regional Walk-Off vs. Stanford (34:55)🎙️ Tanner Bibee Lights out on Sunday at Stanford (38:02)🎙️ Decision to return for 5th year in 2019 (40:11)🎙️ Disappointment of 2019 Season (44:08)🎙️ Player experience in his new role (47:22)🎙️ Communication with players who were former teammates (51:03)🎙️ Takeaways from coaching at Concordia (52:54)🎙️ Future for Pav (55:04)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow Jake Pavletich on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jake_pavletich/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

This episode of the 1544 Miles to Omaha Podcast features a one-on-one sit down interview with the sixth head baseball coach in Cal State Fullerton's Division 1 history, Jason Dietrich. We spoke to Coach Dietrich briefly after his introductory press conference in July and you can hear his comments by going back to Episode 40 that was published on July 1st. Coach Dietrich was also a guest on the "Fram and Friends" podcast hosted by Cal State Fullerton President Fram Virjee in September. We would highly recommend listening to that one to gain more knowledge about the man that will be leading the Titan Baseball program this coming season and into the future.In this interview, we will get to know Coach Dietrich more in depth about his coaching philosophy, which coaches influenced him the most as an assistant coach and what aspects of those coaches will he take into being a head coach. Highlights include:🎙️ Transitioning into Head Coaching role (3:30)🎙️ Importance of maintaining Titan alumni involved (6:08)🎙️ Influence of Don Sneddon on his coaching style (7:36)🎙️ Influence of Mike Gilespie on his coaching style (9:10)🎙️ Influence of Rick Vanderhook on his coaching style (11:02)🎙️ Influence of George Horton on his coaching style (12:25)🎙️ Influence of Cliff Godwin on his coaching style (14:13)🎙️ Balancing head coaching duties while also in charge of pitchers (16:34)🎙️ Use of baseball analytics to help players (20:38)🎙️ Perspective on hiring Josh Belovsky to staff (23:36)🎙️ Perspective on hiring Neil Walton to staff (26:55)🎙️ Perspective on Danny Benedetti as Volunteer Assistant (29:24)🎙️ Creating new position for Jake Pavletich on staff (31:30)🎙️ Preview on Fall Practices officially starting (33:38)🎙️ Fall Ball practices should be open to public (37:59)🎙️ Season schedule spoilers (39:53)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Guest is assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Josh Belovsky who most recently served as the West Coast Regional Supervisor for the Milwaukee Brewers. As a college baseball player, Belovsky started at Cypress College and eventually would go to Texas Tech and the University of Kansas. He played professionally mainly within the Boston Red Sox organization and advanced to play for the Trenton Thunder, the Red Sox Double-A affiliate.Belovsky got his coaching start at Cypress College in 2001 where he served as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. He moved over to Orange Coast College where he filled the same role as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator from 2002-2006. In 2005, he also served as the associate head coach at OCC. Josh made the jump to professional scouting in 2006 with the Colorado Rockies organization as an associate scout before joining the Brewers as the Southern California and Hawaii area scout. In 2016 he was named the Brewers West Coast Regional Supervisor.Belovsky was named Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator by Head Coach Jason Dietrich in early August. Highlights include:🎙️ Transitioning from scouting to coaching (2:48)🎙️ Getting approached to coach at CSUF (5:27)🎙️ Role as a Pro Scout (7:16)🎙️ Role as Recruiting Coordinator (9:37)🎙️ Finding players who want to be Titans (11:15)🎙️ Growing up and becoming a baseball player (12:43)🎙️ Playing professional baseball (16:25)🎙️ Fullerton connections (18:20)🎙️ Choosing to coach college baseball again (19:38)🎙️ On the field responsibilities (20:21)🎙️ Recruiting today's student-athlete (21:35)🎙️ Tradition of Titan Baseball (22:49)🎙️ Transition from talent evaluator to coach (24:05)🎙️ Main focus going into fall practices (26:21)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow Josh Belovsky on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jbelo13▶️ Follow Josh Belovsky on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/JBelo13/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Neil Walton joins the show as an assistant coach for Cal State Fullerton Baseball after being the first coach announced to join Jason Dietrich's staff. This is Walton's third stint on campus starting his coaching career at Fullerton as a Graduate Manager for the 2013 Titans before joining Andrew Checkett's staff at UC Santa Barbara in 2014. Walton was in Santa Barbara for four years before returning to Cal State Fullerton in the volunteer assistant role in 2018 and 2019. He most recently served as hitting coach and assisted with recruiting under Dave Serrano up at Cal State Northridge. After Jason Dietrich was named the sixth head coach in Cal State Fullerton Titan Baseball history, Walton was the first assistant coach to be named to the Dietrich led staff. Highlights include:🎙️ Coaching role with the Titans (2:36)🎙️ Hitting philosophy (3:33)🎙️ Using analytics to coach (8:05)🎙️ Role as a recruiter to his alma mater(13:40)🎙️ What he has taken from previous coaches (19:50)🎙️ Preparation breeds confidence (23:30)🎙️ Influence Ken Ravizza had on him (26:15)🎙️ Main focus heading into Fall practice (30:22)🎙️ Previously coached players on the 2022 squad (32:53)🎙️ Team leadership roles (35:35)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow Neil Walton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/_neilwalton11▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Justin Garza became the 70th Cal State Fullerton Titan Baseball alumnus to make his debut in Major League Baseball. As a freshman, Garza was named the Big West Pitcher of the Year in 2013, a year he would go 12-0 and record a team high 95 strikeouts. For his career, Garza ranks tied with Jason Windsor at 7th all time for fewest walks per 9 innings (1.60). Most notably, Garza is best remembered for his May 23, 2014 pitching performance vs. Cal State Northridge where he threw the fourth no-hitter in Titan Baseball history. Unfortunately in his junior season with Cal State Fullerton,Garza suffered an injury that required Tommy John surgery. Garza would still get selected in the 8th round by the Cleveland Indians and recently got the call up to Cleveland in June 2021. Hear his thoughts on his three years playing for Titan Baseball including these highlights:🎙️ Becoming an MLB player journey (1:23)🎙️ Getting the call to the Show (4:33)🎙️ Adjusting to life in the MLB (7:05)🎙️ Growing up in San Gabriel Valley (11:17)🎙️ Recruitment & choosing Cal State Fullerton (12:50)🎙️ Thoughts on Jason Dietrich as head coach (14:22)🎙️ 2013 Freshman season (18:38)🎙️ No-Hitter vs. CSUN (23:34)🎙️ 2015 Junior season (31:28)🎙️ Baseball America cover photo (35:00)🎙️ Injury & needing Tommy John Surgery (38:02)🎙️ Getting drafted by Cleveland (41:33)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow Justin Garza on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justincgarza▶️ Follow Justin Garza on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justincgarza▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Blake Workman, is a right handed pitcher that played for Cal State Fullerton from 2016 through the 2018 seasons. While playing for Titan Baseball, he played in three Regionals, two Super Regionals and one College World Series. Workman ranks fourth in Titan history for his 10.74 Strikeouts per 9 innings pitched in the 2018 season, a year he was named to the Big West First Team All-Conference list. Workman was drafted in the 22nd round of the 2018 MLB draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was recently promoted to Double-A and as of this recording, playing for the Amarillo Sod Poodles in the Texas League. Hear his thoughts on his three years playing for Titan Baseball including these highlights:🎙️ Early years playing baseball (3:45)🎙️ Recruiting journey that ended in Fullerton (6:50)🎙️ Jason Dietrich influence on him as a pitcher (8:05)🎙️ Blake Hawksworth impact on his mental game (11:10)🎙️ Heading into the 2017 season (12:45)🎙️ Long Beach State 2017 Super Regional (15:00)🎙️ Playing in the 2017 College World Series (22:35)🎙️ 2018 Season (26:17)🎙️ 2018 Regional at Stanford (30:05)🎙️ Jace Chamberlin walk-off "Jumbo Jack" (32:45)🎙️ Hosting 2018 Super Regional at Goodwin Field (39:50)🎙️ Starting pro career & life in the minors (45:50)🎙️ Getting promoted to Double-A. (47:05)🎙️ Mustache Madness in 2017 (54:10)🎙️ Dad jokes (56:50)🎙️ The Butt scratch seen 'round the internet (60:05)▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow Blake Workman on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blake_workman55/▶️ Follow Blake Workman on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Workhorse_55▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

Although he only coached for the Cal State Fullerton Baseball program for one season, Blake Hawksworth's impact on the program goes beyond the 2017 year, a year the Titans would reach Omaha for the 18th time in program history.Now a pitching coach at the high school level, Blake Hawksworth coached at the Division 1 college level in 2020, coaching at Grand Canyon University before COVID-19 shut-down the season. In this conversation, Hawksworth speaks candidly about the one year he coached the Titan pitchers in 2017, the Palo Alto Regional and the dramatic Super Regional series vs. Long Beach State. Hawksworth answered the tough questions regarding the decision to throw Colton Eastman in relief in Game 1 of the 2017 CWS and also opened up about the real and very personal reason why he excused himself from the team following the College World Series. ▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow Blake Hawksworth on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blake.hawksworth/▶️ Follow Blake Hawksworth on Twitter: https://twitter.com/blakehawk_11▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]:🎙️ Working for Scott Boras (2:45)🎙️ Always a Titan without being a Titan (6:50)🎙️ Getting the job at Fullerton (9:25)🎙️ Being the outsider of the Titan coaching tree (12:15)🎙️ Transition from pro to college game (14:40)🎙️ Working with pro arms in college (16:30)🎙️ Pressure to get Colton Eastman back from injury (20:35)🎙️ Losing the regular season series with Long Beach (22:47)🎙️ Pressure in 2017 to make the Regionals (25:15)🎙️ Revenge is sweet on the Dirtbags (30:35)🎙️ Reaction after losing Game 1 of 2017 Super Regional (32:46)🎙️ Winning Game 2 in a blow out to set up Game 3 (36:00)🎙️ 2017 Super Regional Game 3 Dramatic finish (38:20)🎙️ Super Regional Champs! (43:05)🎙️ Respect for the Rivalry (46:00)🎙️ 18th trip to Omaha for the Titans (47:05)🎙️ CWS Game 1 decision to pitch Colton Eastman as a reliver (52:55)🎙️ CWS Game 2 vs. Florida State (57:10)🎙️ Why Hawk only coached 1 year for Titan Baseball (1:02:10)🎙️ Coaching in college for GCU in 2020 (1:07:05)🎙️ Still coaching but at JSerra HS (1:10:15)

Titan Baseball's 6th Head Coach in D1 program history, Jason Dietrich, was introduced to the media and fans on June 30, 2021. Following the official statements made at the podium, we conducted one-on-one interviews with CSUF President Fram Virjee, CSUF Athletic Director Jim Donovan, Titan Baseball Play-by-Play broadcaster Mike Martinez and of course, the newest head coach, Jason Dietrich.Highlights include:▶️ 2:20 - CSUF President Fram Virjee on Jason Dietrich's hiring▶️ 6:15 - CSUF Athletic Director Jim Donovan on Jason Dietrich's hiring▶️ 10:05 - Head Coach Jason Dietrich comments▶️ 20:45 - Titan Baseball Play-by-Play man Mike Martinez▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Award Winning Voice Artist Eli Harris is available online: http://iameliharris.com/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]

We caught up with Mike Rooney, ESPN studio analyst and color commentator and writer and contributor to D1Baseball.com, before the start of the 2021 college baseball season.You probably most recognize Roons from his work during the College World Series in Omaha, normally wearing his trademark bucket hat while reporting from the field. Mike was a player at Notre Dame from 1989 to 1992 and has coached in high school and was on the Arizona State coaching staff under legendary coach Pat Murphy.Please subscribe to the show on whatever platform you are listening and share with family and friends. While there, please leave a 5 star rating and review. This helps other fans find the show more easily. ▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow Mike Rooney on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mike_Rooney▶️ Follow Mike Rooney on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachrooney6605/▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]🎙️ Growing up in PA (3:15) 🎙️ Fired by George Horton before started working at Cal State Fullerton (5:30)🎙️ Asst coach at ASU (6:30)🎙️ Recruiting in college baseball (12:30)🎙️ ASU vs CSUF battles from 1999-2004 (15:05)🎙️ Beginnings at ESPN (19:30)🎙️ College Baseball fan at heart (23:15)🎙️ Is there East Coast bias in College baseball? (33:00)🎙️ Revamping regional formats to 32 host sites (36:30)🎙️ Going from 64 to 72 team in postseason college baseball (38:15)🎙️ College Baseball parity is now the norm (41:00)🎙️ Strength of Big West Conference in 2021 (44:00)🎙️ Bullish on Titans in 2021 (48:00)🎙️ Preseason poll fan hysteria (54:30)🎙️ College Baseball is still growing in popularity (56:45)🎙️ Regarding marriage, Rooney has massively out kicked his coverage (59:15)

Cal State Fullerton Athletic Director Jim Donovan took time out of his very busy schedule to talk about Titan Athletics getting the green light from the Big West Conference to start sporing sports. That means after getting the season canceled 20 games into the 2020 season, Titan Baseball will be back on the field in 2021.What a Titan Baseball season will look like and how the Athletic Department will navigate COVID-19 restrictions and protocols? Jim Donovan shares his thoughts in this episode. He even gives Titan fans a sneak peek at a tentative Titan Baseball conference schedule complete with home and away opponents and potential series dates. Make sure to stay to the end to hear how the Titan Baseball and Softball complex construction project is progressing and the expected completion dates. Please subscribe to the show on whatever platform you are listening and share with family and friends. While there, please leave a 5 star rating and review. This helps other fans find the show more easily. ▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow Jim Donovan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JDTitanAD▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]🎙️ Practice underway (4:45) 🎙️ COVID-19 Testing for Student-Athletes (9:15)🎙️ Pod System (12:00)🎙️ Game cancellation scenarios (17:25)🎙️ Importance of non-conference games (22:15)🎙️ Tentative conference schedule (26:30)🎙️ 4-game conference series (29:15)🎙️ No fans allowed (30:45)🎙️ Lack of Non-conference opponents (37:45)🎙️ Optimist on team outlook (40:15)🎙️ Construction UPDATE!!! (42:30)

Right handed pitcher Mike Parisi played for the Titans for three years during the 1992 through the 1994 seasons, playing for the legendary Augie Garrido all three years. Parisi arrived at Cal State Fullerton by way of Arcadia High School in the San Gabriel Valley.Drafted in the sixth round by the Florida Marlins in 1994, Parisi was named to two different All-American teams in 1994. Parisi's four shutouts in 1994 is tied with Kirk Saarloos for the most shutouts in a season along with leading the 1994 team with most strikeouts that season with 103 Ks.Parisi and Matt Wagner shared the 1994 team record for wins with both pitchers recording 12 Ws on the season. Parisi finished his three year career on the mound at Fullerton with a 26-8 record and a 3.47 ERA.Please subscribe to the show on whatever platform you are listening and share with family and friends. While there, please leave a 5 star rating and review. This helps other fans find the show more easily. ▶️ Visit our website: https://www.calstateomaha.com/▶️ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalStateOmaha▶️ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calstateomaha/▶️ Follow Mike Parisi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/michael_parisi▶️ Suggest a guest: [email protected]🎙️ What's Mike doing now (2:20) 🎙️ Growing up in Arcadia (4:00)🎙️ Being a basketball player (6:20)🎙️ Signing with Cal State Fullerton late (9:05)🎙️ Playing for Augie Garrido as a Frosh (11:10)🎙️ 1992 Post-season recollections (17:55)🎙️ 1992 Baton Rouge Regional celebration in NOLA (21:50)🎙️ 1992 Championship game vs. Pepperdine (26:30)🎙️ 1993 brawl vs. Long Beach State (32:40)🎙️ 1994 Titan squad (39:35)🎙️ Return to Omaha in 1994 (43:20)🎙️ Drafted 6th round by Marlins (44:45)🎙️ Elbow injury in the minors (51:00)🎙️ Playing internationally in Italy (52:10)🎙️ Once a Titan, always a Titan (56:15)