Sept. 23, 2008

Fullerton, Calif. - Tucson, Ariz. - Collegiate Baseball has ranked Cal State Fullerton's 2009 recruiting class, the 14th-best in the nation in its 26th annual evaluation, announced today by the Tucson-based publication.

This is the first recruiting class for second-year Head Coach Dave Serrano and his coaching staff since the regime change prior to the 2008 season. Serrano was the Titans' recruiting coordinator from 1997-2004 as an assistant to for Titan skipper George Horton.

"We are honored to be recognized as having one of the top 15 recruiting classes in the nation," Serrano said. "It goes to show the continued ability and diligence of Recruiting Coordinator Sergio Brown, with the assistance of Greg Bergeron and the rest of the staff, to recognize top-tier student-athletes in our effort to maintain and build Cal State Fullerton baseball for the future."

The Titans, coming off a 41-22 season, are returning a strong core of starters but have replenished the squad with a fine crop of young men primarily from the Southern California area. Fullerton has brought in 19 players, six from junior colleges and 13 from the high school ranks, to vie for one of the 35 roster spots in 2009.

Kyle Witten (Jr., RHP/INF, Bakersfield, Calif., Bakersfield College), Tyler Pill (Fr., RHP/UTIL, Covina, Calif., Covina HS), Nick Ramirez (Fr., LHP/1B, Anaheim, Calif., Katella HS), Noe Ramirez (Fr., RHP/INF, Alhambra, Calif., Alhambra HS) and Kyle Mertins (Jr., RHP, Placentia, Calif., Santa Ana College) headline the 2009 class, all of whom bringing much needed pitching experience to the table with the departure of the Titans No. 1 and 2 starters as well as a valuable reliever. The Titans will be without Jeff Kaplan (senior /drafted/signed), Cory Arbiso (drafted/signed) and Adam Jorgenson (senior/drafted/signed) who combined for 25 wins and over 265 innings in 2008.

Arizona State earned the No. 1 spot in this year's rankings followed by Oregon, Vanderbildt, Ankansas, and 2008 College World Series finalist Georgia rounded out the top 10.

Other West Coast teams in the top 40 ranking include: UCLA (6), defending national champions Fresno State (10), Oregon State (12), USC (16), UC Irvine (22), Stanford (26), San Diego State (29), Pepperdine (33), Long Beach State (39) and Cal State Northridge (t-40).