FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton baseball bounced back in game two against UC Santa Barbara with an 8-1 win Friday night at Goodwin Field to tie the series at a one game apiece.
With the win the Titans improve to 15-10 on the year and 8-3 in Big West play to leave them tied for third place with Long Beach State.
After being shutout and recording just three hits in game one of the series Thursday night, the Titans were eager to get their offense going and they did just that. Fullerton took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single by Maddox Latta to drive in Carter White with two outs.
Titans strike first! #TusksUp | @LattaMaddox pic.twitter.com/bPydxw5JsQ
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) April 8, 2023
White led-off the first inning with a double to left before two quick outs put Latta at the plate as the last chance to drive in a run. Fullerton has come through all year with two outs, scoring 61 times for a total of 80 runs.
The Titans extended their lead in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI triple by Zach Lew to bring home Latta to put the Titans up 2-0. Lew went 2-for-4 on the day with a walk, two runs and an RBI.
An RBI triple by @zachlew20 puts the Titans up 2-0! #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/ELt7JZLASL
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) April 8, 2023
UC Santa Barbara answered with one run in the top of the fifth on a solo home run by Broc Mortensen to cut Fullerton's lead to 2-1.
Brendan Bobo and Lew started the sixth inning with back-to-back singles before a sacrifice bunt by Moises Guzman put the runners on second and third with one out. Cole Urman then singled to left field to drive in both runners and put the Titans up 4-1.
Urman drives in ✌️
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) April 8, 2023
Titans lead 4-1#TusksUp | @cole_urman pic.twitter.com/5Ki08QI4Qe
Fynn Chester shutdown the Gauchos hopes at a comeback in the seventh inning. A leadoff double gave UCSB a runner in scoring position with no outs. Chester got two quick outs, one of which a flyout to left field that advanced the runner to third base. With two outs Chester struck out the Santa Barbara batter to strand the runner at third and keep the Titans lead at 4-1.
Mid 7 | Huge strikeout to strand a runner on third and keep it a 4-1 game! #TusksUp | @FynnChester pic.twitter.com/Il9UycSNqH
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) April 8, 2023
Chester got his first start of the season Friday night and gave the Titans a much needed quality start, allowing just one earned run on five hits in seven innings of work to improve to 4-0 on the year.
The Titans broke the game open in the bottom of the eighth inning with four runs to take an 8-1 lead. After Lew drew a walk to leadoff the inning, Guzman and Urman both reached on bunt singles to load the bases with no outs. Jack Haley then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Lew and put Fullerton up 5-1.
Guzman advanced to third base on Haley's sac fly which set up White for an RBI single to center field to extend the Titans lead to 6-1. White went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI while drawing one walk. The senior leads the Big West with a .438 batting average and .516 on-base percentage.
C-Dub comes through!
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) April 8, 2023
Titans lead 6-1#TusksUp | @carter__white pic.twitter.com/ASghLFn82Y
With runners on second and third, Nate Nankil singled through the left side of the infield to bring home Urman and White and make it an 8-1 game. Six Titans recorded multiple hits in the game while eight of nine batters in the lineup recorded a hit.
Nate keeps it going to extend the Titans lead to 8-1! #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/NFv0xmpnQw
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) April 8, 2023
Jojo Ingrassia came in to close out the final two innings for the Titans and allowed just one hit while striking out four batters on his way to earning his third save of the season.
Ball game! Titans tie the series.#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/AlNPXOrP4M
— Titans Baseball (@FullertonBSB) April 8, 2023
The Titans and Gauchos meet for the series-deciding rubber game Saturday afternoon at Goodwin Field. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m. PT.
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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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