Postgame Quotes
Fullerton Regional Page
FULLERTON, Calif. – The 21st-ranked Cal State Fullerton baseball team used a combined 20 strikeout effort from Louisville Slugger All-Americans Thomas Eshelman and Tyler Peitzmeier and capped off a five-hour 14-inning marathon with a bases loaded walk from Jerrod Bravo to walk-off second seed No. 19 Arizona State, 3-2, to remain in the winner's bracket in day two of the Fullerton Regional Saturday night at Goodwin Field.
The top-seeded Titans (36-22) are one win away from advancing to the Super Regionals for the 12th time in program history and will face the winner of Pepperdine (31-28) and Arizona State (35-22) at 8 p.m. Sunday.
After seven consecutive scoreless innings and a 2-2 tie heading into the decisive 14th frame, Titan freshman Chris Hudgins began the rally by being plunked with a 3-0 pitch off the sixth Arizona State pitcher of the game, reliever Eder Erives (1-1). Fullerton sophomore Taylor Bryant dropped a sacrifice bunt to move Hudgins to second. Erives intentionally walked junior Josh Vargas who eventually replaced Hudgins at second on a fielder's choice. Fullerton designated hitter David Olmedo-Barrera drew another free pass to load the bases before Bravo collected the game-winning RBI on the third four-pitch walk of the frame as Vargas trotted home and was mobbed by his celebratory teammates.
Peitzmeier (3-3), used primarily as the Titans' closer, made an extended appearance to pick up the victory tossing five innings of shutout relief, scattering three hits and recording a career-high six strikeouts. The left-hander issued two walks.
Eshelman pounded the strike zone early, fanning six of the opening eight Sun Devils to rack up a postseason career-high 14 strikeouts. The Carlsbad, Calif. native allowed two runs on seven hits in nine innings of work. The right-hander continued to show his superior control, refusing to issue a walk to extend his impressive strikeout to walk ratio to 121:6. In total, Eshelman hurled a whopping 143 pitches, 103 of which were strikes.
The Sun Devils tallied a run in each of the first two frames to take an early 2-0 lead. ASU's Johnny Sewald doubled to left to open the game, and eventually scored on a wild pitch and a throwing error on Titan catcher A.J. Kennedy. The Devils added a run in the second with a solo-homer to left from Andrew Snow.
Fullerton responded in the bottom half of the second as shortstop junior Timmy Richards provided a two-out RBI single to left on an 0-2 pitch to bring home junior Tanner Pinkston, who drew a walk earlier in the frame.
The Titans broke even in the sixth as Bryant singled to center to lead off the inning. Vargas moved Bryant to second with a sacrifice bunt. Titan junior Tyler Stieb followed with a single through the left-side to place runners at the corners. Fellow CSF junior David Olmedo-Barerra capitalized on the first pitch he saw and roped the game-tying single to notch the game at 2-2.
Erives took the loss after issuing three walks and one run in the final one and 2/3 innings. The Titans would bring home the winning run without the benefit of a hit to remain a perfect 2-0 in the Fullerton Regional.
Game Notes: Fullerton clinched its first extra-inning postseason victory in 21 years, snapping a nine-game losing streak in such games (1-9)...The Titans extended their win-streak to a season-high eight games…This is the first walk-off win of the season for the Titans…The Titans boast a record of 36-9 during Regional play at Goodwin Field… The Titans are now 27-30 all-time against Arizona State and extend their win-streak over the Devils to four games, including three at a Fullerton hosted Regional…CSF and ASU have faced off in the regional round 11 times, with the Titans holding a 7-4 edge…Overall, the teams have met 19 times in the postseason with the Titans holding a slim 11-8 advantage…Bravo snapped his hitting-streak at five games, but extended his reaching base-streak to an impressive 40th consecutive contest…Fullerton extended its all-time NCAA record to 148-78 including a 98-41 tally in Regional play…Vargas now leads the team with 30 walks…The Titans pitching staff tallied a season-high 20 strikeout between Peitzmeier and Eschelman.