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On Monday, the NCAA announced the 64 collegiate baseball teams to earn the honor to be a part of the Division I national tournament, which will begin Friday at noon when the Missouri Tigers take on the Ole Miss Rebels. In preview of the regional tournaments that will be held this weekend, throughout the week our resident college baseball fanatic Rosenblogger will examine each individual regional:

Fullerton Regional

1. Cal-State Fullerton Titans (37-19) vs 4. Rider Broncs (29-26)
2. UCLA Bruins (31-25) vs 3. Virginia Cavaliers (38-21)

**Winner to take on champion of Palo Alto Regional.**

The Titans of Cal-State Fullerton are back in familiar territory, as they will once again host a regional. The number five national seed Titans appear to have a clear road to the super regionals.

Fullerton does not feature an intimidating offense, but they play an aggressive style of baseball, having stolen 112 bases on the year. Erik Komatsu (.354, 7 HR, 47 RBI, 18 SB) and Jared Clark (.314, 9 HR, 51 RBI) lead an offense that does not feature a single player with double digit home runs. Jeff Kaplan and his 11-1 record (4.00 ERA) lead the Titan pitching staff that features several quality arms, but they are certainly not an overpowering group.

MAAC tourney champs Rider will make the trip to California from New Jersey. Unfortunately, the Broncs will likely have a short stay in California, as they will likely be two and out.

The Cavaliers of Virginia head across the country with some momentum after finishing 2nd to Miami in last week’s ACC tournament. The Hoos are built around a solid pitching staff that head to Fullerton with a 3.88 ERA. They feature 3 quality starting pitchers in Matt Packer (6-2, 1.16 ERA), Pat McAnaney (4-5, 3.67 ERA, 92 K in 81 IP), and Jacob Thompson (6-4, 4.40 ERA), who are complimented by a quality bullpen. Virginia is a light-hitting club, who rely on offensive execution and timely hitting to produce runs.

Expect the Hoos to face UCLA left-hander Tim Murphy (5-6, 3.52 ERA, 107 K in 94.2 IP) in the opening contest. Murphy has pitched better than his 5-6 record indicates, and he will be a tough matchup for Virginia. Like the Cavaliers, UCLA does not have a powerful offense. The Bruins enter the tournament with a team batting average of only .275, and it is difficult to win a regional without an offense that can produce runs. I think UCLA will ride the arm of Murphy to an opening game win in what should be a low-scoring game.

The top 3 teams in this regional all play a similar style, and Cal-State Fullerton can do it better than the rest. Virginia will need to rely heavily on its pitching staff to win what will have to be close games, but Fullerton is clearly the class of this four team field. The Titans should have no problem moving on to the super regionals and closer to another trip to the College World Series in Omaha.

Rosenblogger

Also, check out our other regional previews: Ann Arbor, Athens, Baton Rouge, Cary, College Station, Conway, Coral Gables, Houston, Lincoln, Long Beach, Palo Alto, Raleigh, Stillwater, Tallahassee, Tempe

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