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2001
Baseball Players
TITANS ’00: Maintained his reputation as one of the finest left-handed starters in the country with a stellar junior season • Was a first-team Verizon-CoSIDA Academic All-American • Posted a team-best 9-3 record with a 3.69 ERA • Earned second-team All-Big West Conference accolades after finishing third in the conference in wins and fourth in opponents’ batting average (.235) • Improved to 18-4 (.818) on his career, the eighth-highest winning percentage in Fullerton history • Named conference Pitcher of the Week on April 17 after allowing just one hit over seven innings in a key win over Long Beach State • Titans were 12-3 in his starts • Had a 1.99 ERA before one of his worst career outings on April 8 against Sacramento State (seven earned runs and seven hits in 5.0 innings) • Gave up two earned runs or less in 10 of his 15 starts • Used his sensational pick-off move to nab seven base runners and only six attempted to steal (four were caught) • Did not throw a wild pitch all season • Gave up just six home runs (four of those came in starts against Nevada and USC) • Had a nagging groin injury that slowed him down slightly in late April and May • Pitched poorly against USC in an NCAA Regional game on May 28, allowing six earned runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings as the Trojans bounced the Titans from postseason play. TITANS ’99: For second year in a row, he rebounded from mid-season shoulder problems to contribute in the NCAA tournament • Had 7-1 record with team-best 3.16 ERA • Earned honorable mention All-Big West Conference honors • Third-team Verizon CoSIDA Academic All-American with a 4.0 GPA • Selected Fullerton’s Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 1999 • Through first two months of season, he was 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA • Worked 11 innings and allowed five hits and three runs for a win and no-decision to open April • After those outings, he never pitched more than four innings until he worked 7.1 innings for a win vs. Ohio State in a Super Regional game on June 5 • Started against Florida State in the College World Series on June 16 and lost, 7-2 (2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO) • Pitched only one inning in Apr. 17 start at Cal Poly and only two innings in Apr. 25 start at UCSB • Only other outing prior to June 5 was relief attempt vs. Long Beach State on May 16 when he didn’t get an out in five batters and was charged with five runs • Worked 68.1 innings and allowed only 53 hits (.223 average) • Picked off eight runners directly and 8-of-9 would-be base stealers were cut down • Cited for only one balk on the season • Pitched complete game vs. New Mexico State on Mar. 13, allowing only five hits while logging a career-high 10 strikeouts • Picked up a save on Mar. 7 with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief vs. Houston • Selected with Adam Johnson to tryout for Team USA but withdrew due to shoulder problems. TITANS ’98: Missed two months of the season with an undiagnosed shoulder problem • Posted 2-0 record with 3.21 ERA in 28 innings • Made fifth start of year on Mar. 7 vs. UCSB and didn’t pitch again until relief appearance at UCSB on May 10 • Started NCAA Regional opener vs. Harvard at LSU on May 21 and went four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks with three strikeouts. PERRIS H.S.: The valedictorian of Perris High School • Three-year varsity letterman and three-time All-Sunbelt League selection • Coach was Grant Bennett • Team most valuable player all three years on the varsity squad • Also played first base and outfield • County strikeout leader in 1997 with 102 in 68 innings • Posted 6-3 record with 1.82 ERA • Batted .431 with two home runs • As a junior, batted .405 and had a pitching record of 6-4 with a 1.67 ERA • As a sophomore led the league with a 1.57 ERA • Selected by Tampa Bay in the 79th round of the 1997 MLB draft. PERSONAL: Born on June 9, 1979, in Perris, Calif. • Parents are Darrell and Janice Smith • Has an older brother, Jeff • Majoring in accounting with plans of becoming a CPA • Enjoys skimboarding and fishing • Most prized possessions are his skimboard, wakeboard and snowboard, but values his girlfriend more than any of them • Says he’s better than anyone at math, but... he’s never been able to golf • Favorite major leaguer is Jeff Bagwell and favorite team is the Anaheim Angels • Favorite food is pepper steak • Things he’d still like to do: scuba dive, sky dive and “see those off-road rollerblades get popular” • Best advice to kids is to “do good in school, because your education is very important” • Favorite movie is Casino and favorite TV show is FBI Files.
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