2017 NCAA Super Regional Preview: Cal State Fullerton-Long Beach State
CAL STATE FULLERTON-LONG BEACH STATE
Hosted by Long Beach State • Blair Field • Long Beach, Calif.
Follow the action on Twitter: @LBDirtbags | @CSFBaseball
Cal State Fullerton (37-21) at Long Beach State (41-18-1)
Friday
6 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday
3 p.m. (ESPNU)
Sunday
3 p.m. (ESPN or ESPN2)
John Gavin (Photo courtesy Cal State Fullerton Athletics)
Coach: Rick Vanderhook
Postseason History: 18th super regional appearance. Seeking 13th trip to Omaha.
Postseason Route: No. 2 seed in Stanford Regional. Went 3-0, defeating No. 1 Stanford 4-2 in regional final.
Scouting Report
(anonymous coach breaks down the Titans)
“Their rotation is really good and Seabold’s really good. He can smell the win. When he gets a lead and gets a chance, we’ve seen over the last three years that he can smell that lead clamp down and get better as the game goes along. Gavin is tough to see and tough on lefthanders. He’s not a pinpoint command guy, he doesn’t have the command that Seabold has, but he’s just kind of in and out of the strike zone just enough to get you to reach. And when he’s on, he’s better than that, it’s just enough to get you to swing and miss. He’s in the strike zone, he’s got a little deception to him, it’s firm enough, he throws just enough balls over the plate and just enough balls in the white to force you to start your bat.
“Even when people are saying they don’t have offense, it feels like they do. They’ve got a little pop in the lineup. Hurst is really good and is tough to pitch to. If you can’t throw a fastball down and in consistently to him, he’s going to get his hits. And if you elevate, he’s got a chance to hit one in the gap or out of the ballpark. It feels like their offense is built around him getting going. If you can slow him down, the other guys are all good and I think there’s some depth to it, but he is the harder one to pitch to it feels like. They’re pretty strong too. I think if you make a mistake they can run it out of the ballpark.
“(Richards is) really solid up the middle and battled some injuries, so I think that maybe slowed him down from putting up the numbers that he really wanted to. The power’s in there though. If you elevate on him he’s got a chance to hit it out. He can pull the ball and do some different things. He’s solid defensively and doesn’t make mistakes. Up the middle he’s got some range and can make some flashy plays as well.
“The older guys in their dugout, this is their fourth time in their postseason. There’s something to be said for that, having juniors or seniors that have been three or four years in a row. They know what to expect.”
| Pos. | Name | Bats | Yr. | Avg. | OBP | SLG | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB |
| C | Chris Hudgins | R | Jr. | .239 | .283 | .387 | 4 | 27 | 8 | 39 | 3 |
| 1B | Dillon Persinger | R | Jr. | .304 | .418 | .397 | 3 | 29 | 30 | 36 | 18 |
| 2B | Sahid Valenzuela | S | Fr. | .338 | .387 | .407 | 1 | 23 | 14 | 28 | 3 |
| 3B | Taylor Bryant | R | Sr. | .268 | .382 | .380 | 3 | 34 | 33 | 43 | 2 |
| SS | Timmy Richards | R | Sr. | .295 | .370 | .452 | 4 | 24 | 18 | 30 | 0 |
| OF | Chris Prescott | L | Jr. | .234 | .320 | .261 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 15 | 3 |
| OF | Scott Hurst | L | Jr. | .333 | .422 | .597 | 12 | 39 | 32 | 32 | 7 |
| OF | Hunter Cullen | L | Sr. | .278 | .354 | .438 | 6 | 29 | 18 | 35 | 11 |
| DH | Hank LoForte | L | So. | .254 | .318 | .341 | 0 | 16 | 14 | 23 | 3 |
| Pos. | Name | Throws | Yr. | W | L | SV | ERA | IP | BB | SO | AVG |
| SP | Connor Seabold | R | Jr. | 11 | 4 | 0 | 2.91 | 117.1 | 19 | 116 | .251 |
| SP | John Gavin | L | Jr. | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2.93 | 92 | 28 | 84 | .234 |
| SP | Colton Eastman | R | So. | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.38 | 26 | 8 | 29 | .149 |
| RP | Brett Conine | R | So. | 0 | 1 | 14 | 1.56 | 40.1 | 6 | 37 | .207 |
Darren McCaughan
Coach: Troy Buckley
Postseason History: Third super regional appearance (first since 2004). Seeking fifth trip to Omaha.
Postseason Route: No. 1 seed in Long Beach Regional. Defeated No. 2 seed Texas twice in a row, including 2-1 win in regional final.
Scouting Report
(anonymous coach breaks down the Dirtbags)
“They were more physical than they had been in the past. They had some guys who could hit the ball out of the ballpark and were just in general bigger and stronger on the position player side of it than they had been recently. The pitching part of it, for me the part that stood out was the bullpen, just how much depth they had. They kept bringing in guy and guy after guy. Their ability to mix and match, to be able to go long if they needed to, that guy was quality. If someone came in and couldn’t do it, they just kept bringing in guy after guy after guy that had the ability to land a breaking ball for a strike and had fastball command. A lot of pitchability guys on that staff.
“Nobody sees it, (McCaughan’s) fastball is really slippery. It’s not firm obviously, the slider’s not a wipeout slider, but he doesn’t miss middle very often and when he does it seems to be just off the barrel for the hitters. It runs and sinks. It seems to be that he has the ability to make the fastball go straight and make it go down and make it go sideways. You never know whether he’s trying to do it or not, or if that’s just the way it comes out of his hand. He seems to be off the barrel a ton. Again, there’s not a plus pitch in there, but he’s competitive, he’s in the strike zone all day and it’s deceptive.
“They’re all pretty solid (defensively). Banuelos was the Big West defensive player of the year for a reason. But all their other guys really did a nice job. The ball stays in their gloves in the infield, they’ve got good range and they play catch. I didn’t think it was super flashy or a bunch of guys with crazy range. They were all good and solid, but they just didn’t beat themselves. If you put it at them, it was in their glove and across the diamond.
“Once it gets dark at their ballpark it’s really hard to score because the ball doesn’t carry as much, so you’re going to see some (small ball) late. I think that’s a necessity there to be able to get runners in scoring position. But in general it doesn’t feel like it’s over the top. It feels like they’ve got the ability to hit and the ability to score without needing to do as much of that.
“This particular group for (Buckley) seems really mature. They really seem old. I don’t know where they are on paper, I think they have some older guys, but they play old. They play mature. They seem to be very businesslike. The new wave of the future is for everybody to be silly in the dugout, be energized, and they feel more professional in a good way where their guys are on it and into the game, but seem to be on all the right stuff.”
| Pos. | Name | Bats | Yr. | Avg. | OBP | SLG | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB |
| C | David Banuelos | R | Jr. | .297 | .376 | .484 | 7 | 29 | 17 | 42 | 5 |
| 1B | Daniel Jackson | R | Sr. | .279 | .360 | .389 | 4 | 33 | 24 | 41 | 8 |
| 2B | Jarren Duran | L | So. | .305 | .370 | .394 | 0 | 27 | 17 | 45 | 18 |
| 3B | Ramsey Romano | R | Jr. | .325 | .352 | .392 | 2 | 38 | 10 | 27 | 5 |
| SS | Laine Huffman | R | Jr. | .289 | .368 | .362 | 2 | 26 | 8 | 25 | 4 |
| OF | Lucas Tancas | R | Jr. | .311 | .377 | .507 | 9 | 36 | 15 | 43 | 7 |
| OF | Brooks Stotler | L | So. | .233 | .330 | .389 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 26 | 4 |
| OF | Brock Lundquist | R | Jr. | .274 | .380 | .426 | 4 | 26 | 28 | 55 | 10 |
| DH | Luke Rasmussen | R | Jr. | .244 | .359 | .311 | 1 | 32 | 28 | 45 | 6 |
| Pos. | Name | Throws | Yr. | W | L | SV | ERA | IP | BB | SO | AVG |
| SP | Dave Smith | R | Sr. | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1.32 | 88.1 | 10 | 40 | .261 |
| SP | Darren McCaughan | R | Jr. | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2.65 | 115.1 | 18 | 97 | .194 |
| SP | John Sheaks | R | Jr. | 8 | 3 | 0 | 4.12 | 83 | 26 | 51 | .26 |
| RP | Josh Advocate | R | Sr. | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1.98 | 36.1 | 7 | 36 | .214 |
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