May 20, 2012

Box Score / Photo Gallery

Fullerton, Calif. - UC Riverside's Dylan Stuart worked out of jams in the eighth and ninth innings and beat Cal State Fullerton's Grahamm Wiest in a good old fashion 1-0 pitcher's duel Sunday night at Goodwin Field, snapping the Titans' streak of 11 consecutive series wins dating back to opening weekend at Florida.

Stuart improved to 7-6 on the year using 126 pitches to shut down the Titans in the complete-game shutout. The lefty faced just two over the minimum through the first seven frames before running into trouble for the first time in the eighth.

Wiest was the tough luck loser on Sunday, firing his third complete game of the year on 105 pitches, and fell to 5-4. The right-handed freshman held the Highlanders to just three hits on the night, but a lead-off single by designated hitter Kyle Boudreau, a sacrifice by second baseman Nick Vilter and a game-winning double by third baseman Alex Rubanowitz was enough to do him and the Titans in.

Cal State Fullerton (33-18, 15-6) dropped its first 3-game weekend series at home since Feb. 26-28, 2010, against TCU, and its first 3-gameweekend conference series at home since Apr. 17-19, 2009, against Pacific. Riverside (21-28, 9-12) gets its first series win over Cal State Fullerton since 2007, and its first series win over the Titans at Goodwin Field.

Fullerton now leads the Big West Conference by one game over second place Long Beach State. The conference champion will be determined next weekend at Blair Field as the Titans' and 49ers lock horns for the final three games of the regular season.

Fullerton got runners on base in both the first and second innings but were immediately erased as Stuart picked off both Richy Pedroza and Matt Orloff. An error by left fielder Clayton Prestridge moved Derek Legg to second in the third inning, but Stuart would not see real trouble until the eighth.

With two out in the eighth, Legg singled for the second time of the night and was followed by two consecutive walks to Chad Wallach and Pedroza to load the bases. The next batter Greg Velazquez connected for a solid line drive, but it was right at rightfielder David Andriese for the third out of the inning.

Michael Lorenzen doubled with an out in the ninth and moved to third on a ground ball to second. Matt Orloff came to the plate with the tying run 90-feet away. He sent a ball down the third base line that was smothered on a diving play by Rubanawitz and was then thrown out by a half a step to end the game. The Titans out-hit the Highlanders 6-3, but had nothing to show for it.

The Titans had their worst week of the season in terms of results. They finished 1-3 for the first time this year with a loss to UCLA and a win and two losses to Riverside. It was also the third time this season the Titans had been shut out.