FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton baseball dominated No. 12 UCLA by a final score of 15-5 Tuesday night at Goodwin Field. With the win the Titans extend their winning streak to five games and improve to 12-8 on the year.
It is the first time since 2016 the Titans have scored 10 or more runs against UCLA and is the largest margin of victory since 2008.
Fullerton jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. After two base hits and a walk loaded the bases with no outs, Carter White scored on a wild pitch to put the Titans up 1-0. Nate Nankil then scored on a productive out by Zach Lew to make it a 2-0 lead.
With two outs, Moises Guzman hit a high infield pop-up that the UCLA infielder lost in the sun which resulted in an RBI single.
Thank you, sun! ☀️#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/kEkUHHsE1E
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) March 29, 2023
On batter later, Cole Urman laid down a perfect bunt to score Brendan Bobo from third to put the Titans up 4-0.
Perfect bunt! #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/bo77Mb72aT
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) March 29, 2023
Through 20 games this season, the Titans have outscored their opponents 20-10 in the first inning.
UCLA quickly responded with three runs in the top half of the second inning to get back in the game and cut the Titans lead to 4-3.
Fullerton put up another four spot in the third inning to take an 8-3 lead. With the bases loaded and one out, Jack Haley singled to left field to bring home Bobo and Guzman. White then reached base on a sacrifice bunt that resulted in a throwing error by UCLA that allowed Urman to score. One batter later, Nankil had a productive out to bring home Haley.
B3 | @jackhaley25 drives in two! #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/NOf2lLp0Bf
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) March 29, 2023
The Titans plated five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a commanding 13-3 lead. Bobo and Guzman drew back-to-back walks with one out before a double steal put them both in scoring position. Cole Urman then reached on a fielder's choice that scored Bobo. Guzman was initially thrown out at second on the play but was overturned after a challenge by head coach Jason Dietrich.
With two outs and the bases loaded, Nankil drew a walk to bring in another run and put the Titans up 10-3. Connor then hit a bases clearing double to left field to give the Titans a 13-3 lead.
Clear the bases @Caden_Connor77! #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/VhNHz5neMl
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) March 29, 2023
Connor had a great game at the plate for Fullerton, going 4-for-6 with one run and three RBI. Connor is second on the team in both batting average (.325) and runs batted in (16).
UCLA responded with two runs in the top of the fifth inning to cut into the Titans lead, making it a 13-5 game.
White led-off the sixth inning with a base hit up the middle and later advanced to second base on a wild pitch. With two outs, Lew doubled to left field to score White. White went 3-for-4 tonight with three runs and an RBI. The senior leads The Big West with a .424 batting average.
Pour it on! #TusksUp | @zachlew20 pic.twitter.com/TAXm0Br6Ug
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) March 29, 2023
The Titans added one more run in the bottom of the seventh inning on an RBI single by White to score Urman from second base and once again scoring a run with two outs. Fullerton scored six times for eight runs with two outs tonight. On the year, they have scored 49 times for a total of 65 runs with two outs.
Two-out Titans strike again ��#TusksUp | @carter__white pic.twitter.com/Vh5lw5WX9X
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) March 29, 2023
Ryan Faulks earned his first win as Titan after pitching 1.1 no-hit innings while walking two and striking out all four batters he faced. The Titans used eight pitchers who combined for a season-high 18 strikeouts.
Mid 2 | Faulks with a strikeout to end the top of the second!
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) March 29, 2023
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Fullerton carries its five-game winning streak into its conference home-opener this weekend against Hawaii. Game one of the three-game series is Friday at 6:00 p.m. PT.
WATCH THE TITANS ON ESPN+
Titans fans can now watch home contests exclusively on ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a top-tier production studio to give the viewers an ESPN quality production for Titan Athletics. Additionally, all schools in the Big West Conference are committed to producing ESPN quality streams which will allow fans to watch the Titans on ESPN+ for all road conference games.
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