Bruin-Titan rivalry intensifies as UCLA faces Cal State Fullerton tonight in a battle over SoCal dominance

Remember the Titans, because UCLA certainly does, and because the Bruins will likely be seeing a lot more of them before this season is over.

As one of the nation’s premier baseball programs, Cal State Fullerton has long been the team looking down on the rest of Southern California.

Not so anymore, said UCLA a season ago, when the Bruins knocked off the Titans in a Super Regional en route to the College World Series.

But one year does not a new regime make ““ while UCLA (29-19) has struggled with consistency and fell out of the most recent Baseball America Top 25 poll, Cal State Fullerton hasn’t lost a step. The Titans are 36-14 and No. 9 in the country.

The teams’ showdown tonight at Jackie Robinson Stadium is made even more meaningful by the fact that the two will likely be placed in the same regional come playoff time.

The Titans will almost certainly host a regional, while the Bruins figure to slot right into a second seed and would almost certainly be placed in Fullerton in the interests of geography.

“I’m not one of those guys that projects, “˜Hey we’re going to be a two here or a three here,'” UCLA coach John Savage said. “That’s for somebody else to do. We have control of our own destiny. We’ve just got to focus on what’s at hand.”

But which Bruin team will show up? It appeared that UCLA would have a shot to get rolling when it entered last week with a five-game winning streak and with five nonconference games on the slate.

Then the Bruins dropped decisions to Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Bakersfield before bouncing back to win their final two games of the weekend.

Time is running out for UCLA to hit its peak; a win over its nemesis would be a fine start.

“It’s an important game for us to get the week off in the right direction,” Savage said. “Because we didn’t do that this past week.”

The Titans, meanwhile, have won seven of eight and are coming off a weekend sweep of Long Beach State. They’ll contend with UCLA freshman starting pitcher Zack Weiss, who struggled in his most recent start ““ the Bruins’ loss to Long Beach last week.

“(Today) is a fresh start,” Weiss said. “I’ve thrown to (Fullerton) once, and I know their hitters. I played with some of them in high school, too. Execute what you can do, and control what you can control.”

If nothing else, a win over Fullerton would be huge for UCLA’s confidence. The Bruins lost to the Titans 5-3 on the road earlier this season, and a victory tonight could be important mentally with a potential playoff matchup just a few weeks away.

“We played a good game down there,” junior first baseman Dean Espy said. “We’ve really improved since then. I’m excited for (tonight).”

Rightfully so ““ tonight’s contest marks the beginning of a tough eight-game stretch for UCLA to close out the regular season. The Bruins close against Cal, UC Irvine and Arizona State.

First, though, there’s Fullerton. It’s a matchup with plenty of history and a potentially thrilling future.

“It’s easy to get excited for those games,” Espy said. “The energy can get really high in here. I expect it to be a battle, it’s always been a fight between us.”

With reports from Sam Strong, Bruin Sports senior staff.