FULLERTON, Calif. - Ethan Lopez's RBI single in the eighth inning propelled visiting Hawai'i to a 3-2 Big West Conference victory over No. 18 Cal State Fullerton Sunday night at Goodwin Field.
The Titans (33-19, 15-6) dropped their first home conference series this season and the first ever to the Rainbow Warriors (23-27, 12-12).
Josh Vargas led the Titans offense as he went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Scott Hurst was 1-for-4 with a run scored. Timmy Richards, Tanner Pinkston, Ruben Cardenas and Jake Pavletich all tallied a hit apiece.
Lopez went 2-for-4 to lead Hawai'i and Josh Rojas was 2-for-3 on the night. Brendan Hornung went six and 2/3 innings and allowed just two runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out five en route to a no-decision. Cody Culp picked up the win, pitching one scoreless inning. Matt Valencia earned his fourth save of the season.
After five scoreless frames, the Rainbow Warriors scored first for the third straight game against the Titans in the sixth inning. Jacob Sheldon-Collins led off with a triple down the right-field line and then scored on an infield single by Eric Ramirez.
In the seventh, the Titans took the lead after Hurst reached on an error to left that came out of the glove of Marcus Doi. Pavletich followed with a single up the middle and then Hornung walked Hank LoForte to load the bases. The Rainbow Warriors summoned Lawrence Chew out of the bullpen to face Vargas, who promptly lined a 0-1 pitch to right-center to score two runs and put the Titans ahead 2-1.
But Hawai'i responded in the eighth as Sheldon-Collins and Ramirez walked to lead off the frame against Scott Serigstad and then Sheldon-Collins scored after Doi's sacrifice bunt back to the mound was thrown wide of first by Serigstad, tying the game 2-2 and putting runners on second and third. Kekai Rios then lined what appeared to be a sacrifice fly to right but Ramirez was ruled to have left the bag before the catch and was ruled out for a double play to keep the game tied. That's when Lopez stepped up and found the hole on the right side of the infield, chopping a single to right to bring in Doi with the game-winning run.
With the loss, the Titans lead in the conference standings is down to just one game after Long Beach State swept UC Davis this weekend. The teams will play a three-game series beginning Thursday night at Blair Field to decide the conference title.
Before that, the Titans will host USC Tuesday in the last home game of the regular season with first pitch slated for 6 p.m. It will also be senior night as the Titans will honor their seniors in a pregame ceremony.
Notes: Pavletich extended his hitting streak to 13 games on Sunday, the longest by a Titans player this season… Richards has now hit safely in seven straight games… Pinkston left Sunday night's game after a collision on a play at first in the top of the third inning… The Titans are now 10-15 when the opponent scores first.