Norris Rebounds With Lots of Hits

Cal State Fullerton third baseman Shawn Norris earned the most outstanding player award at Fullerton’s NCAA regional Sunday after he drove in 11 runs in the tournament.

Norris was eight for 11 (.727), scored three runs and hit three-run homers Friday and Saturday.

The Titans had five other players selected to the all-tournament team: outfielder Shane Costa, second baseman David Bacani, first baseman Aaron Rifkin, catcher Brett Kay and pitcher Jon Smith. Kay was chosen as the designated hitter with Arizona State’s Casey Myers selected as the catcher.

Costa had the best batting average in the regional, going eight for 10 with seven runs.

Norris was pleased by his strong play in the regional after getting only two at-bats in last weekend’s series against Long Beach State.

“Last week when I wasn’t playing, I worked on some things with my swing, and I think it helped,” Norris said. “I watched some tape and I saw that some kind of hitch had developed in my swing and I worked to correct that.

“Obviously, I was frustrated in not playing, but the most important thing was getting back in the lineup and trying to help the team win.”

Norris said his father, Kent, who runs a baseball academy in Utah, first noticed a slight difference in his swing when he watched the Titans’ series against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in early May.

Fullerton Coach George Horton said he expects the Titans to host this week’s super-regional series against Mississippi State, although that won’t be determined until today by the NCAA baseball committee.

“They say they’re supposed to protect the top eight national seeds, and what better way to do that than to let us host again?” Horton said. “If it’s not played here, it’s all about money.”

Fullerton bid for a super-regional series in 1999, but that series went to Ohio State.

However, Fullerton had not hosted a regional before that time. The Titans were awarded their first regional in 2000 but were eliminated by USC.

A solid pitching performance by junior left-hander Matt Harbin carried Texas Tech to an 11-5 victory over Fullerton in the first game Sunday.

Harbin pitched the first complete game in his Division I career, giving up 10 hits and one walk.

Harbin has been a part-time starter this season after being sidelined much of last season because of an arm injury.

“I just wanted to get us into the seventh or eighth inning if I could,” Harbin said. “Coach [Larry Hays] knew I made some mistakes but he kept me in there.

“I was having a little trouble with my slider against left-handed batters.”

Harbin gave up a bases-empty homer to Louie Lamoure in the fifth inning, a two-run homer to Rifkin in the sixth and a two-run homer in the eighth to Kay.

Texas Tech scored seven runs off freshmen starter Darric Merrell in the first three innings.