EUGENE, Ore. – In a game littered with lead changes and rain delays, it was J.D. Davis' sacrifice fly in the ninth inning proved to be the difference as No. 5 Cal State Fullerton completed a three-game sweep of No. 9 Oregon with a 5-4 win Sunday afternoon at PK Park.
It was the fifth consecutive win for the Titans (7-3) and first road sweep since they took three straight from Cal State Northridge from May 23-25 of last year. For the Ducks (8-3), it was their fourth loss in the last five meetings with the Titans.
The game featured a pair of rain delays, two ties and a couple of lead changes, the last coming in the seventh inning when Davis blasted his third home run of the season over the left field fence to give the Titans a 4-3 lead.
In the ninth, Davis added some insurance as he hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score pinch-runner Tyler Stieb to give the visitors a two-run cushion.
Davis finished the day 1-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and a run scored and was one of seven different Titans to record a base hit on the afternoon.
Reliever Koby Gauna came in to shut the door in the ninth inning and collected his second save in as many days despite allowing a run to score in the ninth. The Ducks had a runner on first with two outs but A.J. Kennedy nailed Aaron Payne trying to steal second to end the game.
Phil Bickford earned his first victory of the season for the Titans after pitching two and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief. He allowed just two hits and struck out seven including six in a row at one point.
Grahamm Wiest had a solid start for the Titans as he went six innings and allowed three runs, two earned on four hits. He struck out four.
The Ducks got on the board in the first inning after Payne advanced to third on a fly ball to left field that Greg Velazquez could not handle. Payne would come in to score on a groundout to first by Tyler Baumgartner to give the Ducks a 1-0 advantage, their first lead of the series.
After a rain delay that lasted just more than an hour, the teams took the field again to play the second inning and the Ducks made it 2-0 on a bunt to first by catcher Shaun Chase.
The Titans were able to get some offense going in the fourth to take the lead. Velazquez led off the frame with a single to right-center and Clay Williamson followed with a walk. Velazquez was erased at third on a fielder's choice, bringing catcher A.J. Kennedy to the plate. The sophomore laced a 1-2 offering by Ducks pitcher Porter Clayton to left for a double to plate Williamson and cut the deficit in half.
Keegan Dale followed with an RBI groundout to second to tie the game and then, after Austin Diemer walked, Tanner Pinkston hit a floater that landed between the mound and second base and then beat the throw to first for a single, which allowed Kennedy to plate the go-ahead run.
But the Ducks tied the game in the fifth on Payne's RBI single to score Connor Hofmann and it stayed that way until Davis' blast in the seventh.
Notes: The start of the game was pushed to 12:15 due to rain, a 12-minute delay… Matt Chapman's five-game hitting streak was snapped Sunday as he went 0-for-4… Tyler Peitzmeier made a relief appearance in the eighth and retired the only batter he faced… The Titans were out hit for the second consecutive game and won for the second time this season when that happens.