Fullerton’s Kotsay Has 9 RBIs in 19-8 Victory Over Delaware

WICHITA, Kan. — Cal State Fullerton’s Mark Kotsay has had more than his share of big games. And Thursday, for the first time in his career, Kotsay drove in nine runs, tying a 10-year-old NCAA tournament record.

For Kotsay, however, that wasn’t nearly as important as Fullerton (44-14) getting a 19-8 victory over Delaware in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional and advancing into today’s 5 p.m. (PDT) winners’ bracket game against Rice (40-21).

“Records don’t concern me,” Kotsay said. “It’s wins that concern me from here on out. Everyone contributed, and we got our first win in a regional atmosphere. That’s the important thing.”

Kotsay went five for five, including a three-run homer and two doubles, and scored three runs.

Kotsay’s hitting rivaled the heat. Had he not been thrown out at third trying for a triple in the sixth, he would have hit for the cycle. He had a chance for a sixth hit in the game that would have tied another NCAA tournament record, but he walked on five pitches in the eighth inning of a game in which the Titans had three homers and 18 hits in support of Scott Hild (9-3).

He gave up only two hits and one run in five innings.