FULLERTON, Calif. – Three players had multi-hit games and the pitching staff allowed just four hits on the day as No. 18 Cal State Fullerton ran away with a 9-1 Big West Conference victory over UC Davis Sunday afternoon at Goodwin Field.
Freshman Phil Bickford picked up his third win of the season as he went six scoreless innings for the Titans (16-11, 2-1). He allowed the Aggies (14-14, 1-5) just two hits, walked three and struck out six. Tyler Peitzmeier, Willie Kuhl, Koby Gauna and Shane Stillwagon combined to throw three innings in relief, allowing one run on two hits.
J.D. Davis continued his torrid hitting as he went 3-for-4 with a run scored, extending his hitting streak to nine games. In his last 10 games, Davis is 16-for-40 (.400) with five doubles and nine RBIs.
Jake Jefferies went 2-for-4 with an RBI double and two runs scored and Keegan Dale was 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Dale finished the series with five runs batted in.
Matt Chapman got the Titans out in front with one swing of the bat in the third inning. Jared Deacon reached on an error with one out and then, after a groundout moved him over to second, Tanner Pinkston reached when he was hit by a pitch from Aggies pitcher Evan Wolf. Chapman then came up and blasted a 2-2 offering from Wolf over the left-center field fence to give the Titans a 3-0 lead.
Cal State Fullerton padded their lead in the fourth inning as Greg Velazquez led off with a walk and then Jefferies snapped a 0-for-21 slump with a single to left field. Austin Diemer sacrificed the runners into scoring position and then Dale collected his third and fourth RBIs of the series with a single through the right side to put the Titans up 5-0.
It stayed that way until the seventh when the Aggies mounted their best threat of the ball game, loading the bases with no one out against Peitzmeier. Kuhl then relieved Peitzmeier for the Titans and proceeded to walk in the Aggies first run of the game, but then bounced back by striking out Adam Young for the first out of the frame. He then got ahead of Steven Patterson, 0-2, but the Aggies second baseman laced a line drive toward right.
Titans first baseman Greg Velazquez then made the defensive play of the game, leaping to his right to make a backhanded catch to rob Patterson of a pair of RBIs and extra bases. Velazquez then doubled back to first and made a sliding tag on Seth Batty to kill the Aggies rally.
Wolf took the loss for the Aggies, allowing five runs, two earned, on five hits. He walked two and struck out two. Batty finished the day 0-for-4 with an RBI while Nick Lynch, Kevin Barker, Spencer Brann and Austin March accounted for the team's four hits on the day.
The Titans will return to the field for a midweek contest Tuesday as they take on UCLA at Goodwin Field before heading out on the road for a three-game series at UC Santa Barbara beginning Friday.
Notes: Both teams combined to use 10 pitchers on Sunday… The Titans have not lost a series to the Aggies and are now 27-3 all-time against them and 12-3 at Goodwin Field… Dale became the fifth Titans player to record at least three RBIs in a game this season. He also tied his career-high which he set on Apr. 29, 2011 against Pacific… Chapman's home run was his fourth of the year and the team's 11th of the season… Titans pitchers allowed six walks on Sunday, the most free passes issued by the staff in a game this season… Stillwagon made his first career appearance on the mound for the Titans and recorded his first career scoreless inning and strikeout in the process.