FULLERTON - Cal State Fullerton completed the sweep of Long Beach State with a 5-3 victory Saturday night at Goodwin Field.
One night removed from winning the 28th conference title in school history and 20th under the Big West banner, the Titans (34-22, 19-5) won their sixth straight game to close out the regular season as they held the Dirtbags (28-26, 11-13) to five runs during the three-game series.
The Titans will now await their destination in the NCAA Tournament as the 16 host sites will be announced Sunday while the rest of the tournament field will be announced Monday morning at 9 a.m. on ESPNU. The Titans will have a viewing party Monday morning at BIGS Fullerton located one mile from campus.
Freshman Connor Seabold recorded his second straight victory in a weekend start as he went six innings and allowed two runs, one earned, on seven hits against the Dirtbags. He struck out six and did not issue a walk.
Jerrod Bravo finished off a spectacular series with another multi-hit game on Saturday night. He went 2-for-4 with an RBI and reached base for the 38th consecutive game. Bravo went 8-for-11 in the series with three doubles.
Dustin Vaught went 2-for-3 on Saturday night with an RBI and A.J. Kennedy, Taylor Bryant, Tyler Stieb and Josh Estill also had hits for Fullerton.
The Dirtbags took their first lead of the series with a run in the first after Tristan Mercadel singled with one out. He advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt and then came in to score on a two-out single by Brock Lundquist.
The Titans responded in their half of the first as Josh Vargas led off with a walk and advanced on a groundout. With two away, Estill singled to plate Vargas and then Bravo doubled to right field to bring in Estill and put the Titans ahead 2-1.
It stayed that way until the fifth inning when Bryant led off with a single. He moved over on a sacrifice and then came in to score on a double by Stieb.
The Dirtbags cut into the lead with a run in the sixth but Fullerton answered back with another run in their half of the frame to maintain a two run lead.
It was the same story in the seventh as the Dirtbags scored a run on a wild pitch to trim the deficit to 4-3. The Titans would score in their half of the seventh on a heads-up base running play by Vargas, scoring on a dropped third strike as the Titans center fielder broke for the plate on the throw to first to cap the scoring.
Tyler Peitzmeier did the rest, recording his 16th save of the season as he pitched the final two and 2/3, allowing two hits and fanning two.
Notes: The Titans finish the regular season with 34 victories, matching their entire win total from last season… Fullerton did not lose a single series during Big West play this season and recorded three sweeps.
