FULLERTON, Calif. – No. 9 Cal State Fullerton managed just four hits and let a solid effort from starter Grahamm Wiest go for naught as they fell 6-0 to Saint Mary's Saturday night at Goodwin Field.
The Titans (9-7) collected just four singles on the night and did not have a runner advance to second base in the final four innings. The Gaels (8-9) had 10 hits on the night including a 3-for-5 night from shortstop Ricky Boas.
Wiest took the tough-luck loss for the Titans as he surrendered three unearned runs in eight innings of work. He gave up eight hits and struck out seven on the night.
J.D. Davis, Clay Williamson, Keegan Dale and David Olmedo-Barrera each had one hit to make up the Titans offense on Saturday night.
The Titans fell behind in the third inning after Trevor Ellison led off by reaching on an error by Titans shortstop Keegan Dale. He was sacrificed over to second and then Anthony Gonsolin singled to put runners on the corners with one away. The Gaels took a 1-0 lead when Gonsolin broke to steal second and catcher Jared Deacon's throw spiked in front of second base and into shallow center, allowing Ellison to score. The Gaels added two more on a sacrifice fly and a two-out RBI double in the inning.
That proved to be more than enough run support for Gaels freshman pitcher Cameron Neff, who went the distance to collect his second consecutive complete-game shutout of the season. The right-hander scattered four hits and walked two while fanning three Titans.
The teams will return to action on Sunday afternoon for the deciding game of the series with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. at Goodwin Field.
Notes: Davis has now reached safely in 11 straight games after going 1-for-3 with a pair of walks on Saturday night… Despite suffering the loss, Wiest's ERA went down from 1.59 to 1.24 after Saturday's outing… This was the second time the Gaels have shutout the Titans in the teams' 12 all-time meetings, the last one coming on Feb. 5, 1987 in a 1-0 affair at Titan Field… The Titans are now 8-3-1 all-time against the Gaels, all of those meetings taking place at Fullerton.