STANFORD, Calif. – In a battle of two of the top projected teams in the nation, it was No. 13 Stanford taking down No. 17 Cal State Fullerton, 5-0 on Opening Day out at Sunken Diamond on Friday evening.
For Fullerton (0-1), the loss runs its record to 24-22 all-time in season openers, while its now just 4-14 when beginning the season on the road. Stanford's (1-0) win was certainly a meaningful one, as the Titans handed the Cardinal both its first and final loss of 2017. Fullerton defeated Stanford 1-0 last year on opening night at Goodwin Field, while the Titans also earned a 4-2 win in last year's Stanford Regional to advance to Super Regionals and end the Cardinal's season. Overall the Titans went 4-1 vs. Stanford last season.
Tristan Beck (1-0) earned the win for Stanford, tossing 6.0 innings, while surrendering just one run and four hits to go along with five strikeouts and a walk. Colton Eastman (1-0) took the loss for Fullerton, going just 4.1 innings, while surrendering four earned runs and fanning three.
Jake Pavletich put together a nice day at the dish for Fullerton, as he collected the first two hits of the season for the Titans. Overall he went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Sahid Valenzuela recorded the first Titan RBI of the season, going 1-of-3 with an RBI.
Ruben Cardenas also picked up a hit, while Mitchell Berryhill went 1-for-1 with a pinch hit off the bench.
The Cardinal struck first, as Tim Tawa opened up the scoring, picking up a two-out RBI single through the left side to score Kyle Stowers from second base. However, Eastman limited the damage, as the Titans got through the second inning trailing just 1-0.
Unfortunately, the lead continued to balloon from there for the Cardinal, as it tacked on two more runs in the third and fourth respectively to open up a 5-0 advantage.
However, the Titans fought back in the sixth with a run of their own. Pavletich began the frame with a rocket down the left field line for a leadoff double. Hank LoForte then moved him over to third with a groundout before Valenzuela singled to left field to bring in Pavletich.
Tommy Wilson, Jimmy Endersby and Dillon Brown were all flawless in relif for the Titans, as the trio combined to pitch 3.2 innings of shutout baseball, while surrendering just two hits.
The Titans will look to tie up the series tomorrow at 1 pm PT.
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