Cal State Fullerton RHP Justin Garza. (CSF)

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Cal State Fullerton’s Garza Out With UCL Injury

Cal State Fullerton junior righthander Justin Garza, a D1Baseball.com Preseason All-American and one of the better pitching prospects in the country, has a slight tear in his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) and the injury will require Tommy John surgery. The procedure could take place as early as later this week.

Garza, a 5-foot-11, 175-pounder, from Ontario, Calif. (Bonita), who was ranked the No. 34 college prospect in our Midseason Top 150, left his start on Saturday in the fourth inning with discomfort. Fullerton head coach Rick Vanderhook initially said on Tuesday he believed Garza would be available this weekend when the team travels to Hawai’i. However, an MRI revealed that not to be the case as a slight UCL tear in his pitching elbow was revealed. Garza will require surgery and is officially out for the year. He finishes the season 4-3 with a 3.05 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 65 innings.

“It’s a tough thing to go through, obviously and I’m just glad for all the support I’ve already received from my family and friends; it means a lot,” Garza said in an official statement provided by the school.

“I’m thankful for all the support and time I have received from the Cal State Fullerton Athletic Training staff and everyone involved with Titan baseball. Once a Titan, always a Titan. On a positive note, I’ll still be able to be around the team and my teammates. We have been playing well and hopefully they can make a great run through the rest of the season. I will be there cheering them on and hopefully be at the top of a dog pile at the end of the season whether my arm is in a sling or not.”

Rick Vanderhook added the following statement through the school:

“It has been our pleasure to watch Justin grow not only as a player, but as a fine young man in his time at Fullerton. He is not only one of the best pitchers I’ve had the privilege to coach but also one of the best individuals. He’s been a great teammate and leader for us and I have no doubt he will overcome this injury.”

Unlike his All-American freshman year when he was 12-0, 2.03 ERA in 115 innings, Garza has had struggles with minor injuries the last two seasons. He made six less starts his sophomore year, pitching 72.2 innings and finishing 5-4, 3.22. But he did have his highlights, including his first career complete game — a no-hitter against Cal State Northridge on May 23.

Garza started this year behind after being held out opening weekend, but built his way up to a seven-inning, one-run performance against Long Beach State in the final start before conference play began, lowering his ERA to 2.00. But once Big West play started, Garza struggled, allowing four runs or more four times in a five-start span. After some thorough film study, Garza and pitching coach Jason Dietrich made some subtle refinements during a bullpen session at USC to make sure Garza was getting a good downward angle.

The adjustments seemed to have worked as Garza tossed six scoreless innings in a win at UC Riverside and didn’t allow a run in his start against No. 7 UC Santa Barbara.

Losing a weekend starter for the season is always a big blow, but especially for the Titans (28-22, 13-5), who have been playing some of their best baseball of the year recently, having won seven straight prior to dropping Sunday’s finale against UCSB. The Titans currently have the No. 33 RPI and are tied atop the Big West standings with UC Irvine, who they own the head-to-head tiebreaker against.

With Garza out, Fullerton will turn to freshman Connor Seabold (2-3, 3.50) and redshirt sophomore Miles Chambers (3-3, 2.52). Seabold is coming off his finest outing as a collegian, throwing 5.1 scoreless innings against No. 3 UCLA on Tuesday. He allowed just two hits and struck out six. Chambers came in after Garza exited on Saturday and tossed 4.2 scoreless innings, giving up just one hit. Sunday starter freshman lefty John Gavin will likely slide up a spot in the rotation.

The Titans have six regular season games remaining. After this weekend’s trip to Hawai’i, Fullerton hosts rival Long Beach State at home to close out the season.

UPDATES:

3:26 p.m. – This story was updated with official statements from Justin Garza and Rick Vanderhook provided by the school.