FULLERTON – Another California Baptist University baseball comeback attempt was thwarted by Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.
The Lancers battled back from a three-run, first-inning deficit to tie the game in the sixth inning, but the Titans bounced back for the 6-3 win at Goodwin Field.
CBU attempted to rally again in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate after a
Chad Castillo leadoff walk and one-out single from
Garret Ostrander, but CSUF held the Lancers there. The three-game, non-conference series will come to an end on Sunday at noon.
Ulises Caballero drove in two runs, while
Damon Keith scored twice on Saturday for the Lancers. Both had a hit in the game, along with
Harrison Spohn (double),
Mitchel Simon,
John Glenn and Ostrander.
The Lancers, who are receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association NCAA Division I Top-30 poll, see their record move to 18-9 on the year. Cal State Fullerton has now won four of its last five to climbs to 12-14.
PLAY-BY-PLAY
CBU battled back from a 3-0, first-inning deficit and tied the game, 3-3, in the sixth inning. The Titans scored the first three runs of the game on five hits in the first inning, but the Lancers chipped away slowly.
Keith got CBU on the board just about single handedly in the fourth. He led off the inning with a single and took second and third on back-to-back wild pitches. He eventually scored on a sacrifice fly into foul territory from Caballero.
The Lancers tied the game with two more runs in the sixth. A pair of one-out, full-count walks to Spohn and Keith did major damage. Glenn drove in Spohn with an opposite field single and Caballero pulled an RBI single through the left side to tie the game at 3-3.
CSUF tacked on three more runs in the seventh on three hits and an error. Starting pitcher
Bryan Pope was stung in the three-run first and seventh innings, but was downright dominant through five innings.
After the three-run first for CSUF, he retired 15 of the next 16 batters he faced as he put the Titans down in order in the second, third, fifth and sixth innings and worked around a hit by pitch in the fourth. Overall, Pope allowed five earned runs on seven hits, a walk and struck out two through six full innings.
TITANS AT A GLANCE
Cal State Fullerton has won more than 75 percent of its home games at Goodwin Field since late 1992, with a 611-204 record. While under .500 at this point, the Titans have played a difficult schedule so far and own impressive wins over USC (5-0), Utah (15-1 and 3-1) and San Diego (3-1 and 5-1).
CSUF is one of the most storied baseball programs in not only California but the country. The Titans have made 40 NCAA Tournaments, with 27-straight appearances from 1992-2018, and reached 18 College World Series (last in 2017) with national titles won in 1979, 1984, 1995 and 2004. Cal State Fullerton has also won 30 Big West Conference championships, with its most recent in 2018, and has never had a losing season.
