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Smith
Hurls Complete Game as Titans Beat Houston Mar. 9, 2001 – Houston, Texas Senior lefthander Jon Smith pitched the second complete game of his career and first in two years as 25th-ranked Cal State Fullerton beat Houston, 5-2, in a nonconference baseball game at Cougar Field Friday night. The Titans improved to 9-8 on the season, while Houston dropped its sixth straight game and fell to 6-14. Smith scattered nine hits (and just one over the final three innings), walked none and struck out four while improving to 4-0. It was Smith's first complete game since he pitched all nine innings vs. New Mexico State on March 13, 1999. It also marked the third time in six starts this season that Smith has pitched at least eight innings. Fullerton never trailed after grabbing a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Robert Guzman, who had three hits and reached base four times, walked to open the game and moved to second when Jason Corapci was hit by the first pitch he saw. Guzman later scored when Aaron Rifkin's grounder was misplayed by Houston second baseman Sean Allen. Matt Belfanti had a two-out single in the inning to score Bacani. Houston tallied three of its nine hits in the first inning, including an RBI double by Chris Klosterman that cut the Titans' lead in half. The Titans increased their lead to 3-1 in the fourth, thanks to an RBI single by Guzman, but the Cougars again answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame. Fullerton gave itself some breathing room in the seventh, when Guzman scored on another Rifkin RBI, and then added a fifth run in the ninth when Shane Costa led off with a double and scored on Chris Stringfellow's single. Rifkin, who had two RBI, has knocked in seven runs in his last two games. Fullerton and Houston will meet for the second game of a three-game set at Cougar Field on Saturday at 2 p.m. CST. Box score
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