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![Coach George Horton cheers his team during a game in 2007. (File photo by Jebb Harris, Orange County Register)]()
Coach George Horton cheers his team during a game in 2007. (File photo by Jebb Harris, Orange County Register)
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![Cal State Fullertons’ Kurt Suzuki holds up the ball after making the tag at home plate against South Carolina’s Steve Pearce during a game in 2004. (File photo by Matt Brown, Orange County Register)]()
Cal State Fullertons’ Kurt Suzuki holds up the ball after making the tag at home plate against South Carolina’s Steve Pearce during a game in 2004. (File photo by Matt Brown, Orange County Register)
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![Kurt Suzuki of Cal State Fullerton runs to first during his teams game against Tulane in 2002. (File photo by Andy Templeton, Orange County Register)]()
Kurt Suzuki of Cal State Fullerton runs to first during his teams game against Tulane in 2002. (File photo by Andy Templeton, Orange County Register)
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![Cal State Fullerton’s Kurt Suzuki throws up his hands in 2003 while rounding third base. Suzuki hit a third run homer to win the game in the ninth inning against Long Beach State, 7-6. (File photo by Matt Brown, Orange County Register)]()
Cal State Fullerton’s Kurt Suzuki throws up his hands in 2003 while rounding third base. Suzuki hit a third run homer to win the game in the ninth inning against Long Beach State, 7-6. (File photo by Matt Brown, Orange County Register)
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![Mel Franks, associate athletics director/media relations at Cal State Fullerton, stands next to photos in 2005 chronicling his school’s four NCAA College World Series baseball national championships in 1979, 1984, 1995 and 2004. (File photo by H. Lorren Au Jr. ,The Orange County Register/SCNG)]()
Mel Franks, associate athletics director/media relations at Cal State Fullerton, stands next to photos in 2005 chronicling his school’s four NCAA College World Series baseball national championships in 1979, 1984, 1995 and 2004. (File photo by H. Lorren Au Jr. ,The Orange County Register/SCNG)
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![Cal State Fullerton’s head coach George Horton celebrates after getting his first National Championship in 2004. Joe Turgeon is at left. CSUF won 3-2 over Texas. (File photo by Matt Brown, Orange County Register)]()
Cal State Fullerton’s head coach George Horton celebrates after getting his first National Championship in 2004. Joe Turgeon is at left. CSUF won 3-2 over Texas. (File photo by Matt Brown, Orange County Register)
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![Kathy Van Wyk starred for Cal State Fullerton softball during her one year with the team. (Photo courtesy of Cal State Fullerton Athletics)]()
Kathy Van Wyk starred for Cal State Fullerton softball during her one year with the team. (Photo courtesy of Cal State Fullerton Athletics)
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![Kathy Van Wyk competes for Cal State Fullerton. (Photo courtesy of Cal State Fullerton Athletics)]()
Kathy Van Wyk competes for Cal State Fullerton. (Photo courtesy of Cal State Fullerton Athletics)
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![Tiffany Boyd competes for Cal State Fullerton. (Photo courtesy of Cal State Fullerton Athletics)]()
Tiffany Boyd competes for Cal State Fullerton. (Photo courtesy of Cal State Fullerton Athletics)
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![Tiffany Boyd, who transferred from UCLA, competes for Cal State Fullerton. (Photo courtesy of Cal State Fullerton Athletics)]()
Tiffany Boyd, who transferred from UCLA, competes for Cal State Fullerton. (Photo courtesy of Cal State Fullerton Athletics)
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Seven Titans on Sept. 15 were named to the seventh class of the Cal State Fullerton Athletics Hall of Fame for advancing Titan Athletics, on and off the field.
The 2017 inductees are Tiffany Boyd, softball, 1991-93; Mel Franks, CSUF sports information director, 1980-2012; George Horton, baseball player, 1975-76, associate head coach, 1991-96, head coach, 1997-07; Kurt Suzuki, baseball, 2002-04; and Kathy Van Wyk, softball, 1982.
Members will be inducted and honored Oct. 27 at the Embassy Suites in Brea.
In addition to the five honorees, Karen Bardsley (women’s soccer, 2002-06) and Bobby Brown (men’s basketball, 2004-07) were also selected to be honored, but are unable to attend the event due to professional sports commitments. They will be recognized at a later ceremony.
Here are some highlights on the 2017 inductees:
George Horton
Horton, who joined the University of Oregon in 2007, left an 11-year legacy at Cal State Fullerton in which he took the Titans to the College World Series six times, winning the national title in 2004.
At Cal State Fullerton, he achieved a 490-212-1 overall record and produced a hefty list of major-league players including Suzuki, Justin Turner, Mark Kotsay and Chad Cordero.
He is an alumnus who played baseball for the Titans and later returned to campus as an assistant under legendary coach Augie Garrido, whom he succeeded as head coach in 1996. He won two national coach of the year awards at CSUF and was a five-time Big West Conference Coach of the Year.
Kurt Suzuki
One of the few native Hawaiians in major league baseball, Suzuki was a walk-on for the Titans in 2002 who developed into an All-American catcher and was the winner of the 2004 Johnny Bench Award, presented to the nation’s top collegiate catcher. He also won the Brooks Wallace Award as the nation’s top player and played for Team USA in 2006.
Suzuki drove in the winning run in Fullerton’s 3-2 victory over Texas for the 2004 national championship. He was selected in the second round of the 2004 major league draft by Oakland and made his major league debut on June 12, 2007.
Tiffany Boyd
After wrapping up a historic career at Irvine’s Woodbridge High School and helping UCLA win a national championship during her freshman season, Boyd announced that she would transfer to Cal State Fullerton due to playing time concerns with incoming recruits in 1989.
In her first two seasons with the Titans, Boyd posted 30-plus wins and was twice named Big West Pitcher of the Year while earning All-American honors.
Boyd closed out her Fullerton career in 1993 with 19 wins. She helped the Titans make their way back to the top of the Big West as they won a share of the title for the first time since 1987. Boyd was also crowned the Big West Pitcher of the Year for a third time.
Kathy Van Wyk
Van Wyk joined CSUF in 1982 as a senior after transferring from Texas Women’s University, which had discontinued its softball program.
At Texas Women’s University, she was the 1979 Texas Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women’s Player of the Year, a member of the 1979 AIAW national championship team and, in 1980, posted a 40-6 record with three perfect games.
In her lone season with the Titans, Van Wyk had one of the greatest pitching seasons in program history with a 35-1 record.
Van Wyk led the Titans to their first Women’s College World Series appearance, where they finished third. She was the first Titan to receive the Broderick Award, which is given to the nation’s top collegiate softball player.
Mel Franks
Known as the “Titans’ Answer Man,” Franks served as sports information director for 32 academic years, including a time when CSUF fielded a football team.
“Being SID was a full-time job, but Franks took on several dozen others: radio play-by-play man, do-it-yourself handyman, statistician, historian, curator, keeper of secrets and reservoir of patience when things went wrong, as they did almost daily,” the Register’s Mark Whicker wrote as Franks prepared to retire in 2012.
“Six offices, six athletic directors, four presidents, seven basketball coaches, one football coach, five baseball coaches, and 12 fundraisers,” Franks commented at the time, about what he was trying to organize.
Sources: Cal State Fullerton, the University of Oregon, Register archives