Dec. 22, 2008

Tucson, Ariz. - The Cal State Fullerton baseball team has been ranked 13th in the nation in the 2009 Collegiate Baseball Preseason Top 40 as announced by the long-time college baseball publication Monday morning.

The Titans, under new head coach Dave Serrano, finished the 2008 campaign at 41-22 with a co-Big West Conference and Regional championship under their belts.

Now in his second season, Serrano will have a solid core of returning players including Team USA gold medalists Josh Fellhauer (Jr., OF, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), Christian Colon (So., SS, Corona, Calif.) and Jared Clark (Sr., 1B, Castaic, Calif.) and 2008 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American Daniel Renken (So., RHP, Cypress, Calif.) and Gary Brown (So., INF/OF, Diamond Bar, Calif.). The cast of returners will be backed by a recruiting class that ranked 14th in the nation by the Tucson-based publication this past September.

Thirteen of Fullerton's 2009 opponents also find themselves on the Top 40 including Big West opposition UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara. Stanford, the program that eliminated he Titans in 2008 is the highest ranked opponent at No. 6 and is followed by Arizona State (7th), Texas A&M (9th), Oklahoma State (14th), San Diego (17th), UC Irvine (20th), UCLA (21st), Pepperdine (23rd), USC (24th), UC Santa Barbara (30th), Southern Miss (33rd), Arizona (35th) and TCU (37th).

The Titans will open up the 2009 season Feb. 20 at home with the TCU. It will be TCU's first visit to Fullerton since 1987 and its inaugural series at Goodwin Field.