STILLWATER, Okla. - Cal State Fullerton fell behind to No. 10 Oklahoma State in the third inning and never recovered as they fell 13-7 in their second game of the Regionals Saturday night at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
The Titans (33-23) gave up a three-run third inning and a five-run fifth to the Cowboys (47-16) to fall behind by seven runs after five innings and that proved to be the difference. Fullerton will now face off with Nebraska in an elimination game on Sunday at 10 a.m. in a rematch of their opener at the Regional on Friday.
J.D. Davis continued to swing a hot bat for the Titans despite the loss, going 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored. Clay Williamson was 2-for-4 and reached base safely for the 29th consecutive game while Matt Chapman was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI. David Olmedo-Barrera led the offense, going 3-for-5 with a double, a run scored and one RBI. His three hits were a new career high.
Justin Garza, coming off a no-hitter in his final outing of the regular season against Cal State Northridge, took the loss for the Titans. He gave up a career high seven earned runs on eight hits in four and 2/3 innings of work. He walked one and struck out four.
It did not start out bad for Garza as he retired the first eight batters he faced. But the Titans ran into trouble in the third inning as the Cowboys put together a rally with two outs. Catcher Bryan Case doubled to right-center and then Saulyer Saxon nubbed an infield single under Garza's glove. Donnie Walton stepped up for the Cowboys and doubled to left field to score Case and put the Cowboys up 1-0. Tanner Krietemeier then followed with the third two-out double of the inning to score Saxon and Walton and put the Titans in a 3-0 hole.
The Titans would get one back in the fourth inning after Davis led off the frame with a double off the base of the wall in right field, extending his hitting streak to 14 games. He would advance to third on a flyout to right, which proved crucial as he came in to score on Tanner Pinkston's infield single, a very high chopper to third base.
But the Cowboys responded quickly, sending nine men to the plate in the fifth inning and scoring five runs in the frame to take an 8-1 lead. Krietemeier singled to drive in the first run and collect his third RBI of the night. Gage Green followed with an RBI triple and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Zach Fish. A single by Tim Arakawa put an end to Garza's night as the Titans called on reliever Willie Kuhl and Craig McConaughy welcomed him to the game with a two-run double off the left field wall to cap the scoring in the frame.
Krietemeier led the Cowboys as he went 3-for-6 with one run scored and five RBI. Conor Costello was 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored while Saulyer Saxon was 3-for-5 with four runs scored.
The Cowboys would go on to score at least one run in the final five innings of the game, offsetting the Titans attempts to cut into the deficit. Fullerton scored runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth but it was not enough. The Titans also left seven men on base in those three innings including the bases loaded in the sixth.
Notes: The Titans hit into a triple play in the third inning. They did so for the first time since Mar. 13, 2005 at Tulane… Both teams combined to hammer out 31 hits including 11 extra-base hits… At four hours and 20 minutes, Saturday night's loss was the Titans longest nine-inning game of the season… Eight of nine Titans starters recorded at least one hit on Saturday night.
