Virginia opens NCAA play

By Jay Jenkins

Published: May 29, 2008

FULLERTON, Calif. — Kevin Costner and Virginia coach Brian O’Connor have more in common than patches of gray hair and a love for baseball.

Both have witnessed multiple games at Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Field.

Costner — an alumnus of Fullerton — actually threw out the first pitch at the stadium in 1992, just three years after starring in “Field of Dreams.”

O’Connor made his most recent visit to the stadium in 2003 — after it was renamed Goodwin Field — as he coached his final four games as an assistant at Notre Dame.

“Goodwin Field is a very special place to play college baseball,” O’Connor said. “They have some amazing fans that are passionate about the game and it is truly an intimate setting.

“When you think of college baseball this time of the year, this stadium quickly comes to mind.”

Today, O’Connor returns to the field officially as Virginia (38-21) opens play in the Fullerton regional against second-seeded UCLA (31-25) at 7 p.m. The winner of the contest will meet the Fullerton-Rider winner on Saturday at 11 p.m., and the two opening day losers will meet at 7 p.m. in an elimination game.

While Fullerton, the No. 5 national seed in the NCAA tournament, is considered the obvious favorite in the regional, O’Connor is cognizant of UCLA’s success.

“With all their tradition, this is the third straight year that they have been to a regional and that’s a school record,” he said. “We know what type of challenge that we face [tonight].”

With that in mind, Virginia is scheduled to start junior Jacob Thompson. O’Connor toyed with idea of holding the right-hander back for a game before making his decision public Thursday.

“For us to win this regional, Jacob Thompson is going to have to give us a quality start,” the skipper said. “Whether that is in the first, second or third game does not matter.”

Thompson posted his best outing in a month against Florida State in the ACC tournament, improving his record to 6-4 on the season. It was the 27th win of his career.

“He’s done a lot for this program in the last three years,” O’Connor added, “and what a better guy to give the ball to than the all-time wins leader in UVa history.”

Winning the regional opener for the third straight year will not be a cakewalk. UCLA announced Thursday that it was starting its ace, left-hander Tim Murphy (5-6, 3.52 ERA).

“He has great stuff,” said O’Connor, who watched the southpaw pitch on TV during the season. “He is one of the best pitchers in the Pac-10, he has a really good arm and a great breaking ball.

“He has a ton of strikeouts (107), a great breaking ball and we are going to have to battle him every pitch.”

It will not be the first “big game” for Thompson against a marquee pitcher.

He has started twice in regional competition and was given the nod in the championship of the Pan Am Games in Brazil against Cuba.

“Every game is a big game and they are all of equal importance,” O’Connor said. “I just felt because of what he has done in his career and how he has pitched of late, he is the guy to give us the bets chance to get this tournament started off right.”

What looms for the winner should Fullerton top Rider seems daunting — the Titans are holding back their top three starting pitchers and allowing junior Brian Wilson (1-2, 5.32) to make his first start of the season.

“We felt that this was the best opportunity for us to win this thing,” said Fullerton first-year coach Dave Serrano. “We’re not looking to come in second. We’re looking to try to win the tournament.”

Serano had some help in making his decision. All-American starter Jeff Kaplan (11-1, 4.00) was laying on his couch Monday night and could not sleep due to irritation in his eye. A small piece of metal was discovered in the senior’s eye and removed.

Cory Arbiso, the team’s No. 2 starter, has an 11-3 record and a 4.53 ERA, but has been experiences tightness in his shoulder and will benefit from added rest.

While Fullerton has enjoyed success on the mound, the stadium itself is geared towards a station-to-station offensive attack reminiscent of Virginia’s since O’Connor’s arrival.

The Titans will bunt in any situation, execute hit-and-runs and take advantage of the massive gaps that stretch 385 feet to the 12-foot wooden fence in left-center and right-center.

“We have a lot of guys who do a great job of getting on base,” Kaplan said. “They do a great job of scoring runs and producing.

“It gives the pitching staff the best chance it possibly can have for success.”

Virginia’s players, while issuing an approval of the ballpark, said playing on the road has taken away some of the pressure attached with their 0 for 4 streak in regional play.

“We try not to think about that stuff,” said junior second baseman David Adams. “I am sure everybody in Virginia is thinking about it. You look at our freshman year, one win…last year, we had two wins.

“Hopefully, we can get that third win and get over the hump.”