CBU Opens Up Highly-Anticipated, Non-Conference Series at Cal State Fullerton

Friday, April 9

Fullerton, Calif.

5 PM

California Baptist University

18-8

Cal State Fullerton

11-14

Cal Baptist

Cal St. Fullerton

Photo by: Andrew Shortall

CBU Opens Up Highly-Anticipated, Non-Conference Series at Cal State Fullerton

4/9/2021 7:43:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Andrew Shortall, Director of Athletics Communications

FULLERTON – California Baptist University baseball opened up one of its most anticipated non-conference series of the season at Cal State Fullerton on Friday.

A late rally from the Lancers was not enough, as the Titans came away with the 8-3 win in the battle of the aces – CBU's Chris Burica and CSUF's Tanner Bibee – at Goodwin Field. Nick Plaia led the Lancers, who are receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association NCAA Division I Top-30 poll, with two hits and two runs batted in.

Find yourself a leadoff hitter who drives in runs like Nick Plaia!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/zvM8iRQNgs
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) April 10, 2021

CBU moves to 18-8 on the season, while Cal State Fullerton climbs to 11-14. The series will continue with noon games on Saturday and Sunday. The Lancers had a total of nine hits in the game from eight different players: Plaia, Chad Castillo, Damon Keith, John Glenn, Harrison Spohn, Ulises Caballero, Connor Clift and Michael Carpentier on Friday.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
A pitcher's duel was expected coming into Friday, with both teams' aces taking the mound for the opener. It started out that way, outside of a big four-run third inning for the Titans.

Burica faced just one over the minimum over the first two innings, with a double play erasing a one-out single. He also worked around a leadoff error to keep the Titans off the board in the fourth inning.

Offensively, the Lancers challenged Bibee and CSUF in several innings, with hits in five innings and three multi-hit innings. CBU got on the board in the seventh inning. Keith led off the inning with a double, took third on a Glenn single and then scored on a wild pitch.

That's a strong double for our guy Damon Keith ✌#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/qjCih422Fo
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) April 10, 2021

The Lancers' rally continued with a two-run eighth. Clift led off the eighth with a single and Chad Minato was hit by a pitch to put two on with one out. Plaia plated them both with a double down the left-field line to bring the score to 7-3.

Bibee, a two-time Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week this year, avoided any big innings to maintain the strong form he's shown all season. The junior came in with a 2.74 earned-run average and .230 opposing batting average, with 35 strikeouts and just seven walks over 46 innings, and shutout USC in a 5-0 CSUF win on March 5.

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 610-204 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.