There is a grim determination permeating Jason Dietrich’s voice, one mixed with equal parts frustration and resolve to solve a puzzle. A puzzle that has teased and taunted him for two of his three seasons holding the keys to the Cal State Fullerton flagship athletic program.
Honestly, it was not supposed to be this difficult. Not for a talented coach known for his recruiting wizardry, his ability to take raw pitchers and make them draft-worthy and his skill forging a winning culture. You know, the kind of culture that comes when players put on the uniform sporting “TITANS” across the chest.
About that latter word? The one emblazoned on the uniforms? Well, Dietrich would like a word.
“We have to get back to earning the right to wear ‘Titans’ across their chests. We have to get back to playing fundamental, hard-nosed baseball,” said Dietrich, who begins his fourth season helming the Titans. “I felt like last year was not good.”
No. No, it wasn’t.
After Dietrich piloted CSUF to a 32-24 record and a Big West Conference title in 2023, the Titans fell through a trap door in 2024. They finished 16-38, including 7-23 in conference —13 games worse than the previous year and a drop to 10th in the 11-team Big West. The 16-38 mark marked the worst in the program’s 50-year history, dating to 1975. Not counting the 2020 abbreviated COVID season, CSUF’s 11-18 record (a .379 winning percentage) at Goodwin Field was the worst home record since the field was renamed Goodwin Field in 1992.
Looking at the numbers explains part — but not all —of the reasons for the plunge. The Titans were 11th and last in the Big West in team batting average (.242) and hits (431). They were 10th in runs (256), RBIs (234) and slugging percentage (.362). Only two players, outfielder Jakob Schardt (.307) and infielder Eli Lopez (.300) batted .300 or better. With a .406 on-base percentage, Lopez was the only CSUF player ranked in the conference’s top 40 in a category that is usually littered with Titans.
The pitching was little better. CSUF was fourth in walks allowed (208), fifth in runs allowed (315), eighth in team ERA (5.16), and 10th in saves (a paltry six) and opponent batting average (.292). And, in the final statistical eye-poke, the normally defensively sound Titans were ninth in fielding, committing 65 errors.
Even if 23 of those losses came by three runs or less, all of this is terra incognita for a program that defined fundamental, hard-nosed baseball. A program where that definition came built into the “TITANS” crest across the home uniforms and a program that defined West Coast—and often national—excellence.
“It was the perfect storm of not-good baseball,” Dietrich said. “We were always finding ways to lose, and it became a mindset. The bottom line is we need better players and we need to coach better. We were short of talent, but I don’t blame the players. I blame myself. It all falls on me. We have to recruit better, we have to develop players better and we have to do a lot of things better.”
If Dietrich went down with the ship last season, he had plenty of company in the water. Not counting the three players off the 2024 roster that were drafted (pitchers Christian Rodriguez, Andrew Morones and Evan Yates) and the three seniors (Peyton Jones, Nico Regino and Jack Haley), 12 players on the 2024 roster aren’t on the 2025 roster.
The exodus included outfielders Colby Wallace, who led the team in RBIs (34), and Drayen Nushida, who transferred to Loyola Marymount and Hawaii, respectively. But it also includes several players who Dietrich jettisoned overboard, the latest batch in what has been a ruthless culling of the Titans’ herd. Every year, he and his staff evaluate who can help the program going forward, who fits the culture he’s trying to forge and how everyone fits into the necessary roles.
Last year, Dietrich said he played a lot of players who weren’t ready to handle the rigors of Division I baseball. Along with that, the Titans lost a lot of leadership from the 2023 team.
“They had a tough time transitioning because we lost all of those guys, and we didn’t have anyone to look up to,” he said. “We were coach-led, and I feel like it should be player-led.”
Now, about those players. Dietrich said at the outset of the season, which began this weekend against traditional opening-weekend foe Stanford, he thinks the Titans have turned the corner. Lopez is back, along with fellow infielders Maddox Latta and Marcos Rosales, who started 19 games as a freshman, batting .301 with 14 runs and 12 RBIs before going down with a season-ending injury. Outfielder Cam Burdick and catchers Max Ortega and Waldie Perez also return.
The newcomers are promising, starting with first baseman/DH Andrew Kirshner (Golden West College), infielder/DH Isaiah Gomez (Grossmont College) and outfielder Paul Contreras (Modesto JC). They are three of the eight junior college imports. They’re joined by freshmen third baseman Carter Johnstone and utilityman T.J. Stottlemyre.
The pitching is a work in progress. Dietrich said he’s still searching for a Friday night starter — customarily the team ace. But he has right-hander Jason Blood (2-3. 4.74 ERA in 2024) and left-hander Mikiah Negrete (4-5, 4.61) penciled in for the weekend. Junior college import Jayden Harper (Ohlone) will compete for innings with sophomore returners Payton Hawkinson, Chad Gurnea, Andrew Wright and Jason Krakoski and freshmen Dylan Smith and Brady Dockan. Re-entering the mix is right-hander Gavin Meyer, who hasn’t pitched in two seasons, and redshirt freshman Chris Hernandez, who returns after Tommy John surgery last year.
“There’s some potential there, but you need guys to step up,” Dietrich said. “I’ve been there where we’ve had freshmen step up, but guys have to take advantage of the opportunities and run with it. It sounds simple, but it’s tough.”
That could serve as the mission statement for the 2025 Titans’ season. Last year, guys were given that opportunity. Few stepped up to meet the moment. And yet Dietrich, who called himself a realist, said he’s seeing a different dynamic. One where perhaps the “TITANS” across the uniform will regain some of its aura.
This would be a good year for that sheen to return. For the first time, the Big West features a postseason tournament, which gives the winner the conference’s automatic spot into the NCAA Tournament. And the Titans are the host site.
“I feel like we’re in a better spot. I’m more optimistic this year than I was last year. … It’s an interesting dynamic because I’ve never been through a rebuild. I didn’t know what it was like. I’m trying to do what I think is right, and I feel like we’re finally going in the direction we like. Now, we have to perform at the end of the day.”
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