RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton took the first game of the four-game conference series against UC Riverside Friday night at the Riverside Sports Complex by a final score of 4-3.
Tanner Bibee started his sixth game of the season and had another quality start for Fullerton. The ace went eight innings, allowing just two earned runs while striking out seven batters and walking only one. Bibee earned the win to improve to 3-3 this year.
.@TBibee28 on tonight's win over Riverside #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/Vra9OhaL7u
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) March 27, 2021
The Titans (7-12, 3-2) took the lead in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Carter White to bring in Cole Urman from third. Urman started off the inning with a single through the right side followed by another single through the right side by Josh Urps to move Urman over to third base.
UC Riverside (3-9, 1-4) scored a run in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 1-1 on a home run to right field by Dylan Orick.
White came up big for the Titans again in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, White singled up the middle to drive in Jake Gentry and Brendan Bobo to give Fullerton a 3-1 lead.
The first-year transfer from Long Beach City College went 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk, a run and a career-high three RBI.
The Highlanders put up another run in the seventh inning, however, the Titans quickly responded with a run of their own in the top of the 8th on a RBI double from Zach Lew to score White. UC Riverside had its own answer, scoring one run in the bottom half of the eighth to make it a 4-3 game going into the ninth inning.
Ryan Hare pitched the final frame for Fullerton and allowed just one hit and struck out the final batter to close out the game. Hare earned his first save as a Titan.
Fullerton and UC Riverside are back on the diamond Saturday afternoon for a doubleheader with game one beginning at 12:00 p.m. PT.
FOLLOW THE TITANS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (FullertonTitans) and Snapchat (FullertonTitans). In addition, the baseball team has established its own Twitter (FullertonBSB) and Instagram accounts (fullertonbsb).