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Titans
Beat LMU as Winning Streak Reaches 13 Apr. 17, 2001 – Los Angeles, Calif. Chris Stringfellow was 3-for-5 with four RBI and Mike Nunez pitched three perfect innings in his first appearance of the season as the 10th-ranked Cal State Fullerton baseball team won its 13th consecutive game with a 9-5 nonconference win at Loyola Marymount Tuesday. The Titans (27-10 overall) have also won 19 of their last 21 games and their 13-game streak is the longest since they won 17 games in a row during the 1999 campaign. Loyola Marymount lost its 11th consecutive game and fell to 15-29. Nunez (1-0), who has suffered from bouts of tendinitis in his elbow all season, came in with the bases loaded and no outs in the third and struck out the first two batters he faced before getting the Lions' top hitter, Kris Zacuto, to fly out to right field for the final out. He also retired the Lions in order in the fifth and sixth innings and struck out four in his three innings of work. The Titans, who have scored in the first inning in their last six games, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in their first at-bat. Aaron Rifkin and Brett Kay had back-to-back RBI doubles and Stringfellow singled in a run. Rifkin also had a two-run home run (his eighth) in the second and Robert Guzman had a sacrifice fly as the Titans built a 6-0 lead. Titan starter Charlie Zahari retired the side in order in the first, but gave up three runs in the bottom of the second as the Lions closed the gap to 6-3. Mike Rouse, who was 2-for-3 and raised his team-best average to .386, tripled to deep center field to open the third and scored on Stringfellow's double to give the Titans a 7-3 lead. Pitching was the story for the next several innings. For the Titans, Nunez and Shane Waroff combined to retire13 consecutive Lions over one stretch. Meanwhile, LMU's Brian Felten held the Titans to just one run over six innings. The Titans' two runs in the ninth were charged to Felten, though Stringfellow's two-run single through a drawn-in infield came off Chris Gray. Sean Martin started the ninth for the Titans but turned the ball over to Cordero after hitting a batter and allowing a pair of singles. Cordero gave up another run-scoring single with one out, but retired the final two batters. Jason Corapci (who extended his hitting streak to seven games), Rifkin, Kay and Rouse each had two hits for the Titans. Kay, Rouse and Belfanti also stole two bases each for the Titans, whose seven steals were the most in a couple of seasons. Fullerton will host UCLA in a make-up game on Wednesday at 3 p.m. before traveling to Cal State Northridge for a weekend Big West Conference series. Box score
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