Baseball is Cal State Fullerton's strongest sport based on winning the most national championships at the university and consistently being rated among the nation's elite baseball programs. They have won four national championships in the NCAA Men's Baseball College World Series since 1979: 1979, 1984, 1995, and 2004.
Fullerton home games are played at on-campus Goodwin Field, and the team is currently coached by Rick Vanderhook.
Big West logo in Cal State Fullerton's colorsA topiary on the north side of Titan Gym
The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team competes in the Big West Conference and has been led by head basketball coach Dedrique Taylor since the 2013–14 season. The team plays at Titan Gym.
The Cal State Fullerton women's basketball team competes in the Big West Conference and plays at Titan Gym.
The team began play during the 1969–70 season under head coach, Billie Moore. During that season, the Titans were invited to the national tournament sponsored by the CIAW (a predecessor to the AIAW.) The Titans defeated West Chester to win the women's national championship 50–46 in their first year of existence.[3]
Cross country
Head Coach John Elders has directed the men's and women's cross country programs since 1988.
Men's cross country
1971 NCAA Division II Championship Team Title
1970 NCAA College Division Individual Championship winner – Mark Covert '73
The Titans men's soccer team competes in the Big West Conference and has been coached by George Kuntz since 2014. The team plays at Titan Stadium.
The Titans men's soccer team's first season was in 1965 and the first Head Coach was Dr. Azmy Ibrahim. There were five Head Coaches from 1965 to 1974 before they became a Division I soccer program.
The Cal State Fullerton Titans men's soccer team have an NCAA Division I Tournament appearance of 7–10 through ten appearances.[4]
The Cal State Fullerton women's soccer team competes in the Big West Conference and plays at Titan Stadium.
Demian Brown has been head women's soccer coach since 2007. He has led the team to three Big West Conference championships and was named Big West Conference soccer coach of the Year twice in 2007 and 2012. Brown led the Titans to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2007 as a first year head coach and again in 2013 after winning the Big West Conference championship.
As a Titans assistant coach, Brown helped the team to two NCAA Tournament appearances. Once in 2005 and a "Sweet 16" tournament berth in 2006. The team also won two Big West Conference championships with Brown as assistant coach.
The Cal State Fullerton Titans women's soccer team have an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 3–7 through seven appearances.[5]
The Cal State Fullerton Titans softball team competes in the Big West Conference and plays at Anderson Family Field. Since 2013, the team has been coached by Kelly Ford.
Head Coach Dianne Matias has been leading the Cal State Fullerton women's tennis program since 2013. She is the fifth women's tennis head coach to lead the program since the 1983 season.
The team has competed in the Big West Conference starting with the 1987 season.
Track and field
Men's track and field
Head coach John Elders has directed the Titans men's track program since 1988. Starting in the 2021–22 academic year, Cal State Fullerton began competing in men's indoor track and field in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.[7] Previously, only the women's team competed indoors.
The Cal State Fullerton women's volleyball team competes in the Big West Conference and has been coached by head women's volleyball coach Ashley Preston since 2015.
During the 2010 season, Fullerton won the conference championship with a record of 26–6. That year, head coach Carolyn Zimmerman won the Big West Conference coach of the year and Erin Saddler won Big West Conference player of the Year. In 2008, Brittany Moore also won the Big West Conference player of the Year.
The Cal State Fullerton Titans women's volleyball team have an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 0–1 through one appearance.[8]
The CSUF football program, discontinued in 1992, set NCAA Division I-A records for most fumbles (73) in a single season and most fumbles lost (41) in a single season.[11] Several Titans moved on to the NFL, including New York Giants standout Mark Collins. It also produced three Canadian Football League players: Mike Pringle who is the league's all-time leading rusher, Damon Allen, the league's all-time leading passer until October 2011, and Allen Pitts, the league's all-time leading receiver until 2008 when he was passed by Milt Stegall.
Cal State Fullerton fielded a men's tennis team from 1960 to 1987.
Wrestling
Wrestling dates to 1968 at Cal State Fullerton. The Titans never won a team championship but boast 31 conference champions, 12 Div. I and 3 Div. II All-Americans and 87 NCAA Div. I national qualifiers including at least one in each of the last 26 seasons. Titan Wrestling competed in Division I in the PAC-10 conference, as the Big West Conference did not support wrestling. Cal State Fullerton's intercollegiate wrestling program was discontinued after 43 years at the conclusion of the 2010–11 season. The program was given the opportunity to continue operating if it could fund its own annual budget. An action was considered at the end of the 2009–10 season, an extensive fund-raising campaign for the 2010–11 season came up short of the $196,145 cash deposited goal by the Aug. 2 deadline.[12] Two former Titan wrestler's include former UFC Bantamweight Champion T.J. Dillashaw and former Pride/Strikeforce/UFC Champion Dan Henderson.
Championships
Appearances
The CSU Fullerton Titans competed in the NCAA Tournament across 10 active sports (5 men's and 5 women's) 99 times at the Division I level.[13]
At the NCAA Division II level, CSU Fullerton garnered 12 individual championships.[14]
Athletic facilities
The Sports Complex is a multi-purpose stadium complex created in conjunction with the Fullerton Marriott and the City of Fullerton. The complex includes a dance studio, fencing rooms, an indoor archery range, an outdoor swimming complex, racquetball courts, weight-training facilities and wrestling facilities.
As of 1962, a mascot hadn't been chosen to represent the nickname, "Titans".[2] In what began as a practical joke turned into the “First Intercollegiate Elephant Race in Human History.”[2] The event attracted elephants from universities around the United States and even one from England.[2] To publicize the event, an elephant called "Tuffy the Titan" was used and it began appearing on items around campus.[2] A crowd estimated at over 10,000 turned out for the event in Spring 1962.[2] As a result of hosting the race and with no other mascot, the elephant, "Tuffy the Titan", was adopted as the university mascot.[2]
School colors
The school colors were chosen as a result of a vote by the student body.[2] The colors chosen were royal blue and white, but the athletic equipment manager at the time of the vote thought orange was appropriate on uniforms for a college then known as Orange County State College.[2] The unofficial color was adopted, but wasn't officially acknowledged by the Athletics Council until 1987.[2] In 1992, a change from royal blue to navy blue was initiated.[2]
Rivalries
Because of the proximity to Long Beach State, the schools are considered rivals. The rivalry is especially heated in baseball with the Long Beach State baseball team also having a competitive college baseball program.[17] This of one of few sports where at least two teams from the Big West Conference frequently make the NCAA national tournament.[17] Fullerton also has an intense rivalry with Big West stablemate UC Irvine; the two schools are the only Division I universities in Orange County.[18][19][20]
^Plummer, William; Floyd, Larry C. (2013). A Series Of Their Own: History Of The Women's College World Series. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States: Turnkey Communications. ISBN978-0-9893007-0-4.
