June 5, 2010

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FULLERTON, CA - Junior Christian Colon homered twice and drove in four while Corey Jones' RBI double in the sixth proved to be the difference as host and top-seeded Cal State Fullerton staved off elimination thanks to a 6-5 victory over second-seeded Stanford on Saturday evening in 2010 NCAA Baseball Regional action at Goodwin Field.

The Titans (42-16 overall, 1-1 in NCAA Regional play) advanced to face either Minnesota or New Mexico in another elimination game on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m., with the winner of that contest meeting either an unbeaten Golden Gopher or Lobo squad for the first of two possible regional championship games immediately following.

The Cardinal finished their season at 31-25 overall, eliminated from a regional in two games for the first time since 1994.

Junior Noe Ramirez (11-1) earned the victory for the Titans, striking out eight to only one walk in eight innings of work before Nick Ramirez came on to pitch a perfect ninth for his 10th save of the year.

Brett Mooneyham (3-7) suffered the loss, allowing all six runs on just five hits in 5 1/3 innings before giving way to Danny Sandbrink in the sixth, who kept his side in the game with 2 2/3 innings of one-hit baseball, striking out three.

Both of Colon's shots were of the two-run variety, giving him 16 on the season, almost to the same spot in left field. His first home run snapped a 1-1 tie in the third with his second round-tripper coming in the fifth inning to give the Titans a 5-2 lead.

Jones' RBI double in the sixth proved key, however, scoring Billy Marcoe for the four-run lead as Stanford rallied to pull within a run. The Cardinal got a double to lead-off the inning by Dave Giuliani, but a fielder's choice erased him at third on a accurate throw to third by Colon.

Colin Walsh followed with a single up the middle to put two on for Stephen Piscotty, who promptly slammed a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left field to make it a one-run ball game at 6-5. Noe Ramirez worked out of the jam, getting a ground ball and a flyout around a double to center by Kenny Diekroeger to escape with no further damage.

It was a familiar theme on the night for Noe, who stranded eight Cardinal on base for the game - three of those in scoring position.

Colon's two hits paced the Titans, who were outhit by a 9-6 count for the game. Tyler Gaffney, who led-off the game with a home run for the second consecutive night on the second pitch of the contest, and Piscotty each finished with two hits to pace Stanford.