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Saarloos Fans 11, Wins 11th Straight in Titans' Rout Apr. 29, 2001 – Fullerton, Calif. Kirk Saarloos tied a career-high with 11 strikeouts in just six innings and won his 11th consecutive game as No. 8 Cal State Fullerton beat UC Riverside, 15-2, in a nonconference baseball game in front of 2,123 at Goodwin Field Sunday afternoon. The Titans, who have won five consecutive games and 19 of their last 20, improved to 33-11 overall, while the Highlanders fell to 16-29. Fullerton has won 10 straight series, including five by sweeps. Saarloos (11-2) allowed two runs on four hits and two walks before leaving with a 14-2 lead after six innings. He fanned 11 batters for the third time this season and struck out the side in second and fourth innings. Saarloos’ 41-inning scoreless streak at Goodwin Field, dating back to Feb. 15, was snapped in the fourth inning, but his home numbers remained mind-boggling: 51.0 innings, 18 hits, 0.88 ERA, 68 strikeouts, six walks and a .108 opponents’ batting average. The start also marked the 121st appearance of Saarloos’ career, tying him with Long Beach State’s Gabe Gonzalez for the Big West Conference record. After Saarloos’ departure, Wes Littleton, Sean Martin and Mike Nunez each worked an inning and combined to retire the final nine Highlanders. The Titan staff struck out 15 on the day. Fullerton’s offense, which accounted for 12 extra-base hits, kicked into gear in the third inning, when Matt Belfanti and Shawn Norris had back-to-back doubles to make it 1-0. David Bacani’s groundout scored Norris for the second run and Robert Guzman stole home on the front end of a double steal to make it 3-0. Riverside shortstop Scott Powis, who was 3-for-3, had a two-run bloop single off Saarloos in the fourth to cut the lead to 3-2. But Fullerton scored 11 runs over the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to put the game out of reach. Stringfellow and Belfanti connected for back-to-back home runs on consecutive pitches in the fifth inning, the second time that duo has managed the feat since April 18. Stringfellow was 2-for-4 with his fourth home run (all coming in April) and four RBI. Shawn Norris singled, doubled and tripled in four at-bats and drove in a pair. Aaron Rifkin doubled twice and David Bacani, Guzman, Jason Corapci, Belfanti and Geoff Comfort each had two hits. Fullerton will play five games next week. The Titans will host Pepperdine on Tuesday (7 p.m.) and Biola on Wednesday (5 p.m.) before leaving for a three-game Big West Conference series at Cal Poly next weekend. Box score
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