Baseball, Commentary, Sports

CLARK: Make an exception and root for CSUF

There is only one circumstance during which a Long Beach State fan should root for the Titans of Cal State Fullerton.

LBSU fans should only hope that their bitter rivals from inland Orange County win if a CSUF victory directly helps a 49er team’s chances at winning the Big West Conference or improving its place in the conference standings. Even then, 49er fans can simply root for the team opposing the Titans to lose — somewhat avoiding the betrayal of cheering on a rival.

However, as in any case, there is an exception.

This weekend, the Titans will host UCLA in the super regional of the NCAA baseball tournament. CSUF is ranked in the top five in the country and has a legitimate chance to win the national championship.

It is for this reason that 49er fans should temporarily set aside their allegiances and actively root for the Titans.

The Big West hasn’t seen a national champion in any sport since 2006, when UC Santa Barbara won the men’s soccer title. The conference’s last champion in baseball was CSUF in 2004.

A trip to the College World Series and possible NCAA championship would bring national attention to CSUF and the Big West. The conference is much deeper now than it was when the Titans and Dirtbags were battling in the early ‘00s, but it doesn’t get the recognition it deserves.

In a positive twist of fate, three Big West teams made the NCAA baseball tournament this year: CSUF, Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara.

Two other teams, the Dirtbags and UC Irvine, were a couple wins away from having a strong case for an NCAA tournament bid themselves.

This was a step up from last year, when the Titans were the only team from the Big West to make the postseason. The growing success of teams in the conference led to the increased number of NCAA tournament berths, and success in the tournament would be very beneficial to Big West teams in the future.

Cal Poly and UCSB each got knocked out in the regional round of the NCAA tournament, but CSUF has a chance to represent the Big West on the biggest stage of college baseball: the College World Series.

CSUF upperclassmen Michael Lorenzen, Richy Pedroza and Carlos Lopez have been providing the leadership and contributions necessary to bring the Titans to this point. Freshmen starting pitchers Thomas Eshelman and Justin Garza have been frustrating hitters all year long.

As many Big West teams discovered this year, the Titans always find a way to win. If they can do that in the late stages of the NCAA tournament, the Big West will get the attention it’s missed for almost a decade.It may be difficult, maybe even impossible, but fans of LBSU and any Big West school should put their faith behind the Titans for the good of the conference.

If you can’t bring yourself to do that, just root for the team opposing CSUF to lose.

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