FULLERTON, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton completed a season sweep of UCLA with a 10-7 non-conference victory Tuesday night at Goodwin Field.
In a game that went deep into the night, the Titans (25-14) got a four-hit game from Timmy Richards and four-RBI night from freshman Ruben Cardenas to lead the team over the Bruins (19-19), who had their four-game winning streak snapped.
Hank LoForte was 2-for-3 with a double and Dalton Blaser went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
On a designated staff day for the Titans pitching staff, Brett Conine picked up the victory after tossing two innings on Tuesday. He allowed one unearned run on two hits and struck out two. Fullerton used six pitchers in all with Gavin Velasquez drawing the start and going two innings.
Justin Hooper took the loss for the Bruins as he allowed three runs on one hit and two walks. He recorded just one out in the third inning that saw Fullerton score six times and take the lead for good.
The Bruins took the lead in the first inning after Luke Persico and Sean Bouchard got aboard on a back-to-back two-out singles. Kort Peterson then smacked the first pitch he saw from Gavin Velasquez over the head of center fielder Scott Hurst and off the wall for a two-run double to put the Bruins ahead 2-0.
The Titans got one back in their half of the first as Richards led off with an eight-pitch at bat that culminated with his sixth home run of the season. It was initially ruled a foul ball, but after the umpires met to discuss the play, they changed the ruling to a homer to make the score 2-1.
The Bruins made it 3-1 in the third after Eric Filia led off with a single and then advanced on a wild pitch. With one out, Bouchard reached on an infield single and Filia advanced on a throwing error by Richards. Filia would score on an RBI groundout by Peterson to give UCLA back its two-run cushion.
But Fullerton broke the game open in its half of the third, scoring six times thanks to five hits and three UCLA errors. The Titans sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning and took a 7-3 lead.
They added three more in the sixth inning after Cardenas hit a double down the left-field line with the bases loaded to clear the bases and give Fullerton a 10-3 lead.
The Bruins would score one in the eighth off Scott Serigstad and then plated three unearned runs in the ninth off Chad Hockin. With the tying run on base, Hockin got catcher Daniel Rosica to hit a soft liner to first to end the game, three hours and 49 minutes after it had begun.
Fullerton will resume Big West Conference play this weekend as the Titans head to UC Irvine for a three-game set beginning Friday night at 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Notes: Richards logged the second four-hit game of the season for Fullerton. The first came just three games ago when Tanner Pinkston went 4-for-4 in a 12-4 win over UNLV on April 22… Cardenas became the fifth player on the team to log a four-RBI game this season. Coby Kauhaahaa drove in four runs against UNLV on April 22… The Titans are now 13-3 when scoring in the first inning and 5-2 when their opponent scores in the opening frame. Fullerton has outscored opponents 23-10 in the opening frame this season… Richards' home run marked the second time he has gone yard to lead off a game for the Titans. On March 6, he led off the game at Texas Tech with a home run... The Titans now have 18 home runs on the season through 39 games with 14 of them coming at Goodwin Field. The Titans hit 20 home runs in 64 games last year.