HONOLULU - In his first career weekend start, freshman Connor Seabold was masterful as he helped Cal State Fullerton complete the weekend sweep of Hawai'i with a 5-2 Big West Conference victory Sunday night at Les Murakami Stadium.
Seabold recorded his first career quality start for the Titans (31-22, 16-5) and set new career highs in innings pitched and strikeouts. The right-hander tossed six innings and allowed two runs on three hits against the Rainbow Warriors (21-29, 12-12). He walked one and struck out nine en route to his third win of the season. He retired the last nine batters he faced and struck out the side in the fourth inning.
Miles Chambers piggy-backed on Seabold's dominance as he pitched two perfect innings and Tyler Peitzmeier shut the door in the ninth to get his 15th save of the year. Overall, Seabold, Chambers and Peitzmeier retired 16 straight batters before a one-out hit in the ninth.
Offensively, three players collected a pair of hits for the Titans, led by Jerrod Bravo's 2-for-4 night with two doubles. He reached base for the 35th consecutive game. Josh Vargas was 2-for-3; Tyler Stieb went 2-for-2 with a triple while Josh Estill and A.J. Kennedy had a hit apiece.
Fullerton jumped out in front for the third straight game, scoring twice in the second inning. Bravo led off with a double off the base of the wall in right field and then advanced to third on a flyout. Timmy Richards was hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners and then Kennedy singled to center field to score Bravo. Center fielder Kaeo Aliviado fielded the ball and tried to throw out Richards at third, but the throw hit the Titans shortstop in the back and bounced into foul territory. Richards scored on the error to make it 2-0 Titans.
In the third inning, the Rainbow Warriors responded with a two-out rally to tie the game. Jonathan Weeks led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a groundout. A strikeout later, Alan Baldwin hit a single up the middle past a diving Richards to bring in Weeks and trim the Titans lead to 2-1. Aliviado then stepped in and hammered a double off the right field wall and Baldwin came all the way around to score to tie the game 2-2.
The Titans reclaimed the lead in the fifth inning thanks to a pair of defensive miscues by the Rainbow Warriors. Taylor Bryant reached on an error to lead off the frame and advanced to second on a sacrifice. Stieb singled to left and Bryant stopped at third, but Baldwin's throw into second spiked in front of the shortstop and Bryant scored on the high bounce to put the Titans back in front 3-2.
In the sixth, Dustin Vaught was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame and went to third on a one out single by Estill. Richards laid down a perfect bunt along first to score Vaught on the squeeze play and the Titans led 4-2 after six innings. The Titans would add another run in the seventh to cap the scoring.
With the win, the Titans remained one game up on UC Santa Barbara in the Big West Conference standings after the Gauchos completed a three-game sweep of UC Irvine on Sunday. The Titans will host Long Beach State for the final series of the season while the Gauchos visit UC Riverside.
Notes: The Titans swept the Rainbow Warriors for the second straight season and have won eight straight games against Hawai'i. The Titans are 16-5 overall against Hawai'i and 10-4 at Les Murakami Stadium… Fullerton has not lost a conference series all season and recorded their second sweep in conference on Sunday night.
