RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton baseball team used a seven-run fourth inning, 25 hits, and six solid innings of pitching from Justin Garza to pound Big West Conference opponent UC Riverside, 19-0, on Saturday night at The Plex.
The Titans offense overwhelmed the Highlander pitching on Saturday, earning season-highs in hits (25) and runs (19) in the second game of the three-game weekend set. The last time Fullerton posted more than 20 hits in a game was a 25-hit outburst in 2013 when the Titans beat Pacific, 25-0, at Goodwin Field.
The 19 runs on Saturday was the most runs in a game this season scored by the Titan offense, with the previous high of 13 coming Feb. 27 at Baylor University.
Eight of the 17 position players posted multi-hit games during the three and a half-hour marathon game. Timmy Richards and Taylor Bryant were the only two Titans to go the distance for Fullerton on Saturday, going 2-for-5 with five runs batted in and 3-for-5 with one run scored, respectively. Richards and Bryant were joined in the multi-hit category by Vargas (2-for-4), Dustin Vaught (2-for-3), David Olmedo-Barrera (2-for-4), Tyler Stieb (2-for 4), A.J. Kennedy (3-for-3), and Dalton Blaser (2-for-3).
The Titans (25-20, 10-4) wasted no time to jumping ahead of UCR as Josh Vargas led off the game with an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error. Vaught then followed with a bunt single and Olmedo-Barrera came through with an RBI fielder's choice.
Fullerton added three in the top of the third after two-consecutive, one-out singles and a hit-by-pitch from Vaught brought up Josh Estill with bases loaded and two down. Estil worked the four-pitch walk to force in the Titans second run of the night, and Jerrod Bravo followed with a clutch two-out, two-RBI single to left field.
The only trouble Garza faced in his six innings at The Plex came in the bottom of the third after a two-out triple by Joe Chavez, and a walk, brought up Robby Witt with two on and a chance to get right back into the game. Garza pitched his way out of it, however, as Witt flew out to center to end the inning.
The junior gave up three hits, no runs and struck out five in his six innings to pick up his fourth win of the year.
The Titans broke the game open in the fourth with a seven-run outburst, the most runs in a single inning the Fullerton offense has scored all season. Kennedy led it off with a double as Vaught and Olmeda-Barrera followed with back to back RBI hits. With two outs, the Titans made it all the way back to Kennedy for his second at-bat of the inning and the catcher came through with the final RBI of the inning, an infield single up the middle.
Fullerton tallied five runs in the seventh inning, two in the eighth, and one in the ninth to add to their season-high run total of 19. The previous season-high in runs for the Titans was 13 on Apr. 12 at UC Davis.
Willie Kuhl, Chad Hockin and Henry Omana came on to pitch in relief of Garza and combined to secure the Titan shutout, giving up two hits to the Highlanders through three innings of work. UC Riverside could only muster five hits in the game and failed to score a run for the second-consecutive night.
The Titans and the Highlanders will complete their three-game weekend series tomorrow afternoon at UC Riverside with the first pitch scheduled at 1:00 p.m.
Notes: The Titans set a season high in runs for a complete game, runs in a single inning, total bases for a game and at-bats in the Saturday matchup with UC Riverside…Right handed pitcher Shane Stillwagon posted his first career hit as a Titan on Saturday…Fullerton moves to 37-21 all-time against the Highlanders…The Titans have not surrendered a run in 18-straight innings against UCR this weekend…The Titans improve their record to 14-14 all-time at UC Riverside…The Titans posted their fourth-straight win.
