Titans Open at No. 1 Stanford

Second-ranked Cal State Fullerton opens its baseball season with a three-game series beginning tonight at Stanford, and the highly regarded Titan pitching staff will get a quick test against the nation’s No. 1-ranked team.

Right-hander Adam Johnson, who was 10-4 with a 3.55 earned-run average last season, is the Titans’ scheduled starting pitcher for the 6 p.m. opener at Sunken Diamond. Jason Young, 12-3 with a 3.43 ERA last season, is scheduled to pitch for the Cardinal.

The two juniors were opposing starters last year in a first-round game in the College World Series won by Stanford, 9-2.

Left-hander Jon Smith (7-1, 3.16 ERA in 1999) will start for Fullerton Saturday at 1 p.m., with right-hander Ronnie Corona, a transfer from Cypress College, set to start the series finale Sunday.

Justin Wayne (10-1, 4.94 in 1999) is listed as Stanford’s starter on Saturday, with Brian Sager (6-0, 4.17) going on Sunday.

Stanford has seven regulars back from a team that finished with a 50-15 record last season.

The Cardinal won two of three games from the Titans in an early season series last year. Johnson and closer Kirk Saarloos combined for a two-hitter in Fullerton’s 8-0 victory in the opener. Stanford opened its season last week with 10-2 and 7-1 victories over Fresno State. Young and Wayne were the winning pitchers.