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Smith
Ks 11, Titans Bring Bats in Win over Miami Mar. 30, 2001 – Coral Gables, Fla. Senior left-hander Jon Smith struck out a career-high 11 batters and three Titans hit home runs as the 24th-ranked Cal State Fullerton baseball team beat No. 4 Miami, 8-2, in Coral Gables, Fla. on Friday night. The Titans, who have won nine of their last 11 games, improved to 17-10, while the Hurricanes had their five-game winning streak snapped and fell to 25-7. Fullerton was within four outs of handing the Hurricanes their first home shutout since a 4-0 loss to Texas A&M on May 29, 1995. Smith allowed just one run on seven hits and two walks over eight innings, while improving to 6-0 on the season. He also improved to 24-4 in his four-year career, giving him the seventh highest career winning percentage (.857) in Titan history. The Titans scored in each of the first four innings and had an 8-0 lead after six innings. Hurricane starter Brian Walker (7-1) suffered his first loss after allowing six earned runs on seven hits over four innings. David Bacani opened the game by doubling to left-center field, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Robert Guzman. The Titans, who had seven extra-base hits on the night, got two-strike RBI doubles from Mike Rouse and Shawn Norris in the second for a 3-0 lead. Louie Lamoure, making his fourth start of the season, hit a two-run home run to left field in the top of the third inning to give Fullerton a 5-0 advantage. Bacani – who was 3-for-3, reached base five times and stole a career-high three bases – blasted his third home run to straight-away centerfield in the fourth inning. He also came around to score Fullerton's seventh run in the sixth inning on an error by Miami catcher Danny Matienzo. Aaron Rifkin hit his third home run in as many games to give the Titans an 8-0 cushion in the top of the seventh inning. Rifkin, who has all seven of his home runs over his last 15 games, left the game the next inning with some tenderness in his ankle, but is expected to start Saturday. Smith struck out the first two Hurricanes he faced in the bottom of the eighth, but gave up back-to-back singles to Kevin Howard and Greg Lovelady before pinch-hitter Jim Burt doubled in a run to end the shutout. Wes Littleton gave up another run in the ninth before Chad Cordero struck out the final two batters on six pitches. Fullerton will resume its three-game series with Miami at 7 p.m. EST on Saturday. The game will be telecast live by Fox Sports Net Florida. Box score
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