FULLERTON, Calif. – No. 5 Cal State Fullerton opened Big West Conference play by completing the sweep of Pacific with a commanding 25-0 victory over the Tigers on Saturday afternoon at Goodwin Field.
The Titans (24-4, 3-0 Big West) scored a season-high 25 runs on a season-best 25 hits, and shut out an opponent for the sixth time this season.
Grahamm Wiest (5-1) was credited the win for the Titans tossing seven shutout innings on five hits while striking out four. Koby Gauna and Willie Kuhl each pitched an inning of relief.
Richy Pedroza led Fullerton at the plate, batting 4-for-4 with a double and triple, while scoring four runs and driving in four runs. Carlos Lopez batted 3-for-4 with a RBI and two runs scored, while Keegan Dale finished his day 3-for-6 with two RBIs and four runs scored.
Every Titan in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit as Pacific (7-15, 0-3) used seven pitchers to get through the game.
In the loss, Pacific starter Mike Hager (0-3) allowed six runs on four hits and two walks while getting through just 1/3 of an inning. In relief, Kyle Crawford surrendered five runs on nine hits in two innings of work while striking out two.
In the first, Cal State Fullerton brought 13 batters to the plate as the Titans scored nine runs on eight hits, including back-to-back home runs. Hager loaded the bases with a base hit and two walks with Michael Lorenzen coming to the plate. The Titans' center fielder planted hit his fifth home run of the year over the wall in left center, recording the Titans' third grand slam of 2013.
Anthony Hutting followed with a solo home run to right as the Titans took a 5-0 lead, followed by Pedroza's two-run single to center and J.D. Davis' two-run double off the wall in left center.
Lorenzen finished the afternoon batting 3-for-5, driving in all four of his runs on the first-inning grand slam.
But a nine-run frame in the first was not the highest scoring inning for Fullerton as the Titans scored 11 runs on five and two errors in the bottom of the sixth.
Pacific's pitchers combined to issue eight walks and hit four batters.
Notes: Fullerton's 25 runs were a new season high and the most since a 27-2 victory over Cal Poly on May 1, 2004…The Titans' 25 hits were a new season high and the most for Fullerton since 25 vs. UC Davis on April 2, 2010…Michael Lorenzen's grand slam in the first was his fifth home run of the year and the third grand slam for Fullerton in 2013; the previous being J.D. Davis at CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 17) and Jake Jefferies at TCU (Feb. 23)…Anthony Hutting hit his fourth home run of the year…Michael Lorenzen's hitting streak also extended to 12 games, the longest of the year for any Titan and the longest since Richy Pedroza went on a 12-game hitting streak from April 24-May 20, 2012…Fullerton has now outscored opponents 35-6 in the first inning in 2013…Fullerton's 11 runs scored in the sixth is the highest single inning total for Fullerton in 2013, and the highest total since scoring 11 runs in the third inning during a 15-3 win against Long Beach State on May 24, 2009…for the fourth time this season, the Titans have hit multiple home runs in the same game….since 1975, the Titans have swept the Tigers in a three-game series on 20 occasions…the Titans have played Pacific in the Big West opening series on six occasions, sweeping the Tigers in each of those meetings…Fullerton shut out an opponent for the sixth time in 2013…Fullerton batted .415 in the three-game set against Pacific...Pedroza's four hits match a Fullerton single-season high, set by Jefferies hitting for the cycle on Friday night...Fullerton swept its fourth weekens series of the year...dating back to 1990, Cal State Fullerton has a record of 60-12 during the first weekend of Big West play...Fullerton's 24-4 start is the best for the program since the 1996 squad opened the year 31-2.