FULLERTON, Calif. – The Titans (5-4) came back to win game three over No. 11 Stanford (9-2) in thrilling fashion with a walk-off single from Jairus Richards to drive in Sahid Valenzuela and give Fullerton the 6-5 victory Sunday afternoon at Goodwin Field.
Jairus Richards talking to @TitansPBP on the game winning hit and his leadership role so far this season #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/zL3cINZORa
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) March 4, 2019
The Titans have shown no matter what they finish weekend's strong as they are now 3-0 in Sunday games with wins over Virginia, Oklahoma and now Stanford, all of which are power five conference schools.
Stanford took the lead in the top of the eighth inning, going up 5-3 heading into the bottom half of the inning. However, Fullerton showed its fight, coming right back with answer of its own scoring two runs to tie the game at 5-5.
Valenzuela started the inning off with a double down the right field line. Daniel Cope and AJ Curtis then followed up with a walk each to load the bases with no outs. Jordan Hernandez later hit a sacrifice fly to right-field to score Valenzuela before Mitchell Berryhill lined a single into right-field to score Richards and tie the game.
.@Sahidv04 talking to @TitansPBP on the win today. Valenzuela was 3-for-4 with 2 runs and 1 RBI. He scored the game winning run in the B9 #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/qZrv4gbzEz
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) March 4, 2019
In the ninth inning, Valenzuela was once again the catalyst to get the Titans going as he recorded a two-out single to left-field before advancing to second on a throwing error from by the shortstop. Richards then stepped to the plate and hit a blooper to right field, driving in Valenzuela and giving the Titans the win.
The Titans took an early lead, going up 2-0 in the third inning on RBI from Valenzuela and Cope to drive in LoForte and Borgogno. Fullerton added another run in the third to make the score 3-0 before Stanford scored five unanswered runs.
Michael Knorr had a solid outing on the mound for Fullerton, pitching 5.0 innings while giving up just three hits and one earned run and striking out a career-high five batters.
Michael Weisberg came on and closed out the last two innings to record his first collegiate win after allowing just one hit and one earned run. In three appearances, Weisberg is now 1-0 with two saves while allowing just one hit and striking out.
LoForte had another strong day in the field and at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one run. LoForte now has an outstanding 54 game on-base streak dating back to the middle of the 2018 season. This year the senior is hitting .351 (second on the team) along with a team-high seven runs. With two hits Sunday against Stanford, LoForte is on a seven game hitting streak.
Valenzuela is having an eye-opening junior campaign through nine games. In the win Sunday, the junior went 3-for-4 with and RBI and two runs including the game-winning run in the ninth inning. Valenzuela is hitting a team-high .406 with a staggering .537 on-base percentage along with four RBI and a tied for team-high seven runs.
The Titans now eye another power five matchup as they host undefeated Arizona State (11-0) Tuesday and Wednesday at Goodwin Field. Tuesday's game has been moved to a 5:00 p.m. start in expectation of inclement weather.
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