FULLERTON, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton jumped out to an early lead but could not hold on as they dropped a 5-4 nonconference decision to No. 20 Long Beach State Saturday afternoon at Goodwin Field.
The Titans (12-11) dropped a three-game series at home to the Dirtbags (16-7) for the first time since May 25-27, 2007 when they lost the last two games of a Big West Conference series.
Freshman Colton Eastman took the loss for Fullerton as he went six innings and allowed four runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out three.
Tanner Pinkston and Dalton Blaser each drove in a pair of runs for Fullerton and were two of six different players to record a hit for the Titans on the day.
For Long Beach State, Josh Advocate recorded his third win of the season as he worked two innings out of the bullpen and allowed just one walk. Chris Rivera notched his 10th save of the year, working one and 2/3 innings.
The Dirtbags jumped on Eastman right away as Garrett Hampson led off the game with a double and then scored on a single by Tristan Mercadel in the very next at bat to put the visitors up 1-0.
The Titans responded in their half of the first as Josh Vargas and Scott Hurst led off with a pair of walks. Timmy Richards sacrificed them over and then Pinkston grounded out to second to score Vargas and tie the game, 1-1. Blaser stepped up and launched his first career home run over the right field wall, a two-run shot that put Fullerton ahead 3-1 after one inning.
After a scoreless second, the Dirtbags tied the game thanks to a walk and three hits, all with two outs. Mercadel started the rally with a double and then Alex Muzzi drew a walk. Luke Rasmussen singled to plate Mercadel and then Zack Rivera singled to right to bring in Muzzi to tie the score, 3-3.
In the fourth, Long Beach State got a leadoff single by Zack Domingues and then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Eastman got the second out in the frame but Hampson came through with a two-out RBI single to center to give the Dirtbags a 4-3 lead.
The Dirtbags added another run in the seventh to make it 5-3 and it stayed that way until the eighth. Hurst led off with an infield single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Pinkston stepped up with one out and smacked a double to the gap in right-center to bring in Hurst and make it 5-4, putting the tying run in scoring position. That's when Rivera came into the game and got Blaser to ground out to second base before inducing a fly out to right from Coby Kauhaahaa to get out of the jam and preserve the one-run lead for the Dirtbags.
He would retire the side in order in the ninth to lock down the win for Long Beach State.
The Titans return to action Tuesday night as they head to Jackie Robinson Stadium to take on No. 14 UCLA in a nonconference match up before the Titans begin Big West play on the weekend against CSUN.
Notes: The Titans and Dirtbags have met in a three-game nonconference series during the regular season 13 times and this is just the fourth time the Titans have lost it. They lost consecutive series in 2004 and 2005 and lost the series last season as well… Blaser's home run was the first of his career and the 11th by the Titans this season… The Titans are now 3-7 in one-run games… Saturday was just the second time the Titans have lost a game when hitting a home run in a game. They are 7-2 overall… The Titans are now 9-2 when scoring first and 7-2 when scoring in the first inning.
