FULLERTON, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton flirted with another shutout, holding No. 11 UC Santa Barbara scoreless for eight and 2/3 innings and got plenty of offense in a 10-1 Big West Conference victory Saturday night at Goodwin Field.
The Titans (28-20, 13-4) picked up their sixth win in a row as the pitching staff allowed just three hits through the first eight innings against the Gauchos (34-13-1, 11-6) and fanned eight.
Justin Garza went three and 1/3 innings and allowed two hits with one walk and a strikeout. He walked Cameron Newell with one out in the fourth inning and then was lifted for precautionary reasons after feeling some discomfort.
Miles Chambers stepped in and picked up right where Garza left off, getting the last two outs of the fourth and cruising on the mound for the Titans through the eighth inning. He allowed just one hit, walked one and struck out four in four and 2/3 innings of work. He retired the last 10 Gauchos batters he faced in order to pick up his third victory of the season.
Tyler Stieb led the way at the plate for the Titans, going 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and two RBIs. Josh Vargas was 2-for-4 with a run scored and one RBI and David Olmedo-Barrera went 1-for-2 with a home run, two runs scored and a pair of walks, extending his hitting streak to nine games.
The Titans capitalized on a Gauchos error in the second inning to put up three runs and take the early lead. Jerrod Bravo and Timmy Richards walked to lead off the inning and then Stieb laid down a bunt along the first base line. Gauchos starting pitcher Justin Jacome charged but then ran past it to give catcher Campbell Wear the chance to get the out, but Wear bare-handed the ball and threw it into right field to allow a run to score and give the Titans runners on second and third with no outs. After a strikeout, Taylor Bryant hit a sacrifice fly to right field to plate another run and then Vargas lined a single up the middle to put the Titans up 3-0 after two innings.
In the third, Olmedo-Barrera added to the lead as he blasted an 0-1 offering from Jacome into the netting overlooking the left-center field wall for his sixth homer of the season and put the Titans up 4-0.
The Titans erupted for six runs in the seventh inning to put the game away, sending 10 batters to the plate and getting RBI hits from Tanner Pinkston, Bravo and Stieb along with an RBI groundout from A.J. Kennedy.
The Titans will look to get the sweep Sunday afternoon as John Gavin takes the mound for Fullerton while Shane Bieber goes for the Gauchos.
Notes: With the win Saturday, the Titans clinched the series against the Gauchos, who have not won a series at Goodwin Field since 2007… The Titans have secured at least a tie for first place in the Big West through the weekend with Saturday's win as they lead UC Irvine by one game after the Anteaters' 9-6 win over Cal Poly on Saturday… Bravo went 1-for-3 and reached base for the 30th consecutive game.
