FULLERTON, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton was one out away from taking the first game of its three-game series with No. 20 Long Beach State, but a game-tying home run in the ninth and an unearned run in the 12th helped the Dirtbags pull out a 5-4 nonconference victory Thursday night at Goodwin Field.
The Dirtbags (15-6) broke a 4-4 tie in the 12th on a controversial play with one away in the inning. Garrett Nelson lined a ball to right field where Titans (11-10) outfielder Ruben Cardenas appeared to make the catch. He gloved it with his left hand but dropped the ball when it appeared he was reaching to throw the ball back into the infield. The ruling on the field was no-catch and thus an error, giving the Dirtbags a base runner.
Nelson would come around to score after a sacrifice moved him over to second, an infield single got him to third and then a wild pitch by Titans reliever Dylan Prohoroff bounced toward the Fullerton dugout, allowing Nelson to score the go-ahead run easily.
The Titans went down in order in the bottom half of the inning to end the game and give Long Beach State the win.
Prohoroff took the loss for Fullerton, the first decision of his career. He tossed two innings of relief and allowed the one unearned run on two hits. He struck out two.
Joshua Advocate got the win for Long Beach State while Chris Rivera picked up his ninth save of the season.
The game got into extras after Long Beach State tied the game in the ninth. The Titans had the Dirtbags down to their last out with closer Chad Hockin on the mound, but Luke Rasmussen blasted a two-run, game tying blast to left off Titans deadlock the game at 4-4.
Fullerton manufactured a run in the first inning to take the lead after Josh Vargas led off the inning with a double to left. Tyler Stieb sacrificed him over to third and then Timmy Richards hit a chopper to third, where Jeff Nellis came home with a thrown to catch Vargas in a rundown. But Vargas was able to elude the tag and get back to third safely, putting runners at the corners with one out. Tanner Pinkston then laid down a perfect squeeze to first. Vargas scored and Richards moved up to second on the play, giving the Titans a 1-0 lead.
In the third inning, Vargas hit a one-out triple to right center and then came in to score as Stieb singled past the drawn-in infield to put the Titans up 2-0.
Vargas finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk three runs scored. Stieb was 2-for-4.
The Titans led by two the top of the fifth when the Dirtbags scored tied the game up. Brock Lundquist led off with a single but Blake Quinn got the next two batters on a flyout and groundout. Jeff Nellis drew a two-out walk and then Eric Hutting was hit by an 0-2 pitch on the top of the helmet to load the bases. Zack Domingues then laid down a bunt toward first that Quinn bobbled the ball and sent it into foul territory, allowing two runs to score to tie the game. Garrett Hampson then launched a ball to deep center for what would've been a bases clearing extra-base hit, but Stieb made a spectacular catch to rob the Dirtbags shortstop, crashing face-first into the wall but hanging on to the ball for the final out of the frame.
The Titans would take the lead in the seventh as Dalton Blaser led off with a double to center field. He advanced on a sacrifice bunt and then would score on Cardenas' sacrifice fly to center field to put Fullerton back on top, 3-2.
The Titans added a run in the eighth after Vargas walked to lead off the inning. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, got to third on a bunt-single by Stieb and then scored after Richards grounded into a double play.
The teams return to the field Friday night at 7 p.m. for the second game of their nonconference series with right-handers Connor Seabold and Darren McCaughan slated to start on the mound for the Titans and Dirtbags respectively.
Notes: Quinn started the game on the mound for the Titans and allowed two unearned runs on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts. He lowered his ERA to 1.59… Three of Long Beach State's five runs were unearned on Thursday night… The Titans had three extra-base hits on Thursday… Long Beach State won at Goodwin Field for the first time since 2014. They were swept by Fullerton in a Big West Conference series to end the 2015 season.
