By Mel Franks
Associate Athletics Director
June 18, 2007

So many storylines everywhere you looked.

• Battle of the Orange County Big West Conference schools.

• College World Series veteran Cal State Fullerton vs. neophyte UC Irvine, which didn't even have a team for most of the 1990s.

• Head Coaches George Horton and Dave Serrano and their uncle-nephew relationship in opposite dugouts.

• Little League and high school teammates Clark Hardman and Taylor Holiday matching heroics.

• The rematch from Apr. 6 of starting pitchers Jeff Kaplan and Wes Etheridge.

• Matt Wallach's remarkable success against Etheridge in two games this season.

• The length of time to play the game, the longest in CWS history.

• Cal State Fullerton's miserable luck in extra-inning games in Omaha.

• The numerous multiple foul-ball at bats.

• Evan McArthur's ankle injury and Fullerton's subsequent short bench.

• The resulting makeshift Titan infield alignment.

• Fullerton's sparkling defense vs. the Anteaters' half-dozen errors.

• Solid starting and outstanding relief pitching by both teams.

• Each team with a bases-loaded hit batter.

But it all came down to a controversial call regarding NCAA Baseball Playing Rule 8-2-d A.R., which stipulates that "if the batter intentionally gets hit by moving or rolling any part of the body into the pitch, the batter shall not be awarded first base."

In the opinion of Coach Horton, who was ejected for one of the few times in his career, UC Irvine's Taylor Holiday rolled his shoulder into the pitch to gain first base and set up the winning run of one of the most memorable games in the 52-year history of the CWS. Holiday admitted he turned into the ball in the post-game press conference.

But home-plate umpire David Buck didn't see it that way and the Anteaters' sixth hit batter of the game drew disproportionate attention and stole the spotlight even from Bryan Petersen, who delivered the game-winning hit just as he did to win the Super Regional title game in Wichita State last weekend.

After what amounted to a heavyweight fight with two warriors going toe-to-toe for 13 rounds, the outcome should have been determined by a knockout, not a split decision.

Ultimately, it was a case of Titan Baseball being turned against the Titans. Coach Dave Serrano has built his UCI program around pitching and defense and opportunistic offense, which includes "taking one for the club."

"You tip your hat to Holiday," said Horton during what at times became an emotional post-game press conference. "It was a good baseball play. He did it and we didn't... it won the game for them."

When asked about the propensity for college players to let themselves get hit to get on base compared to the professional players' distaste for bruises, Horton said that until the rules are changed, the practice would continue. NCAA umpires coordinator Dave Yeast said in a prepared statement that "the NCAA Div. I Baseball Committee will review this specific situation as part of its comprehensive review of the entire 2007 baseball championship."

It's a cliché, but it's a shame someone had to lose this game. There were no goats, only heroes.

For Fullerton, Hardman's diving catch saved at least two runs to end the fifth inning and earn him the No. 1 spot on ESPN's Web Gem features for the day. Josh Fellhauer's perfect throw to the plate to nail Holiday for the second out of the bottom of the 13th inning and also make Web Gems. John Curtis' textbook block of the plate and tag. Wallach's home run and RBI single that led to a pair of intentional walks. Nick Mahin's go-ahead single in the fifth. Adam Jorgenson's 1.2 innings of 1-hit relief. Bryan Harris' 5 innings of 3-hit relief.

For UC Irvine, Holiday's three hit-by-pitches and a game-tying 2-run home run. Cody Cipriano's game-tying home run that chased Kaplan in the seventh. Matt Morris' 4 hits. Tom Calahan and Dylan Axelrod combining for 7 innings of 2-hit shutout relief. And, of course, Petersen for the game-winning hit on Dustin Birosac's third pitch.

The Titans have now played six games in a row in Omaha that were filled with drama and went down to the last pitch. Seven in a row going back to the 2004 title game. This one was a record 5:40. Last year's opener vs. North Carolina went 4:53 (third longest) and 13 innings. Last year's 9-inning game against Clemson went 4:05 for the third longest such game in the CWS.

Remarkably, the Titans are now 0-6 in extra-inning games in Omaha and this is the fourth time such a loss sent them home. Quite a contrast to the four times the Titans celebrated all night after winning national titles. In college baseball, the two extremes are not that far apart.