FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton baseball dropped game two of the series to No. 3 Stanford by a final score of 7-5 Saturday evening at Goodwin Field. The Titans are now 1-1 on the year.
The two teams went back and forth all game. Neither team held a lead for longer than two innings Saturday night. The Titans trailed by two runs heading into the final half inning and had a chance at sending the game to extras but came up short.
Lew led-off the bottom of the ninth inning with a walk to give the Titans a runner in scoring position with no outs. Two quick outs brought the Titans down to their final out of the game before Carter White and Bredan Bobo drew walks to load the bases.
With two outs the Titans turned to freshman Draven Nushida as pinch hitter who made solid contact on the ball that appeared as though it was going into left field to give the Titans a chance at scoring the tying run. However, Stanford's shortstop made an incredible diving catch to end the game to force a series deciding game three.
The Titans got off to another strong start, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single by Colby Wallace to score Zach Lew with two outs in the inning.
Titans strike first! #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/cRZQlIoiSH
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) February 19, 2023
Stanford quickly answered in the top half of the second inning on a two-run home run by Drew Bowser to give the Cardinal a 2-1 lead.
Fullerton responded in the home half of the second as JT Navyac singled up the middle to bring home Moises Guzman to tie the game at 2-2.
B2 | Titans tie it up thanks to @jtnavyac!
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) February 19, 2023
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Stanford's Tommy Troy and Braden Montgomery both hit solo home runs in the top of the third inning to put Stanford back on top by a score of 4-2.
The Titans kept fighting back, scoring two runs in the fifth inning to tie the game once again. Nate Nankil scored on a wild pitch before Cole Urman drove in Lew on a sacrifice fly to right field.
A pair of errors in the seventh inning led to runs for both teams. With one out in the top of the inning the Titans looked to have an inning-ending double play but a throwing error allowed a run to score to give Stanford the lead.
In the bottom half of the inning, Nankil advanced to third base on a wild pitch before scoring on an error by the catcher attempting to throw him out at third, leaving the two teams tied at 5-5 after the seventh.
Stanford scored one run in the eighth and ninth inning to take a 7-5 lead.
First-year transfer Trevor Hinkel got the start for the Titans and went four innings, giving up four earned runs on seven hits while striking out three. Gavin Meyer got the loss for the Titans after allowing one run in one inning of work.
Drew Dowd started on the bump for Stanford and went 4.1 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits while striking out three and walking four batters. Matt Scott earned the win for the Cardinal after pitching two shutout innings.
The two teams are back at Goodwin Field Sunday afternoon for the series deciding game three at 1:00 p.m.
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