CSF's Jason Windsor was the CWS Most Outstanding Player.

June 28, 2004

By Kyu-Heong Kim Daily Texan

(UWIRE) OMAHA, Neb. - Cal State Fullerton was full of confidence Saturday night.

They had reason to be. They had just won the first game of the best-of-three series. They had just defeated Texas's No. 1 starter, J.P. Howell. Most of all, they knew their workhorse, Jason Windsor, would be on the mound Sunday.

"I feel very confident going in, especially with the horse," Fullerton designated hitter Felipe Garcia predicted after Saturday's victory. "Hopefully we ride that horse all the way, all nine innings tomorrow."

Wouldn't you know it, the horse pulled through. Texas watched helplessly as Windsor's last pitch hung off the bat of Hunter Harris and softly into the glove of right fielder Bobby Andrews.

A dogpile ensued. Windsor's teammates jumped on the horse's back one last time. The horse had carried his team to a national title.

Two hours earlier, however, all didn't appear well for Windsor. He had thrown 193 pitches in the last eight days going into the game. He was playing on limited rest against a Texas squad that was batting .326 in the College World Series.

He stumbled out of the gate, giving up a leadoff double to Texas' new leadoff batter, Dooley Prince. It seemed as if the colt had run his last race when he gave up two runs in the first inning - the first earned runs since June 4 against Minnesota.

It seemed as if his run toward a national championship, like his scoreless streak of 27 and 2/3 innings, was coming to an end.

"I didn't feel rattled at all," Windsor said of the two runs. "There's eight innings left after that, and that was just a slice of the pie."

The horse may have stumbled out of the gate, giving up two early runs to Texas, but he saddled up and carried on.

Windsor gave up three hits the rest of the way, struck out nine more batters and held Texas scoreless. The other eight pieces of the pie were flawless. The pie added up to a national title for the Titans and a Most Outstanding Player award for Windsor.

The presentation of the MOP trophy was merely a formality. There was no doubt who the best player in the CWS was going into Sunday.

Windsor had thrown a complete game shutout against South Carolina in their opening game and pitched three innings of scoreless relief five days later to finally eliminate the Gamecocks.

But there were doubts in his arm strength. Having thrown 145 pitches the first time around against South Carolina and 48 more the last time, Fullerton head coach George Horton was going into uncharted waters in terms of pitch count.

In the most important start of his lifetime, Windsor's arm did more than hold up. It dominated. At one point, the right-hander from Saratoga, Calif., retired 10 Texas batters in a row.

With a questionable bullpen behind Windsor, there was extra motivation for him to go the entire way.

While the Oakland Athletics, who selected Windsor in the third round, are probably unhappy with the 323 pitches he threw in the CWS, Windsor is elated with the national title.

"To me, it's probably the best thing that's ever happened to me, but it's not the last thing," Windsor said. "I'll go the next level and watch these guys on television next year."

Next year, Windsor could be well on his way to becoming another young star pitcher for the Athletics. This year, Windsor carried his team, and it will be difficult for the Titans to repeat without him.

"We're going to lose one big horse next year," Horton said.