Pinch-hitter Chris Genung singled in Nick Covarrubias with two outs in
the bottom of the 16th to lead Long Beach State to a 7-6 win over No.
17 Cal State Fullerton in a five-hour, forty-four minute Big West Conference
game at Blair Field Saturday night.
The Titans, who fell to 36-19 overall and 14-9 in Big West play, dropped
into a third-place tie with Cal Poly with just one game remaining. The
49ers improved to 36-19 and 16-7 and clinched second place in the conference.
Fullerton will finish lower than second place in the conference for the
first time since 1996. The Titans have also lost their first conference
series on the road since 2000 (also at Blair FIeld).
Genung's game-winner came off Fullerton's Jeff Housman (0-4), who gave
up consecutive one-out singles to Covarrubias and Jeff Davis in the 16th
to set the stage for the walk-off hit. Carlos Muniz (2-1), who allowed
a hit in two innings of work, earned the win.
Long Beach stranded 17 runners, but it was Fullerton which left runners
in scoring position in the 10th, 12th, 14th and 15th innings.
The extra innings were needed after the 49ers tied the game, 6-6, in the
bottom of the eighth against Chad Cordero. The Titans' All-American closer
had actually entered the game with the Titans trailing, but had achance
to pick up the victory when Fullerton rallied for four runs in the top
of the eighth. Geoff Comfort and Jason Corapci singled in runs and another
pair scored on a fielder's choice ground ball by Blake Garrett and subsequent
throwing error by shortstop Kevin Randel.
The 49ers staked starter Daniel Eisentrager to a 5-2 lead through seven
innings. The key sequence during the Long Beach run came in the sixth
inning, when 49er cleanup hitter Paul McAnulty rocketed a ball to left
field and stopped at second base after Shane Costa appeared to play the
ball off the wall. But Long Beach successfully argued the ball had left
the field of play and McAnulty was credited with a two-run homer to give
the 49ers a 3-2 lead.
Long Beach added another pair of runs in the seventh when Cordero came
on with runners on the corners and one out, but gave up run-scoring singles
to Covarrubias and Davis.
The two bullpens pitched exceptionally well in the extra frames. Long
Beach's Josh Alliston, Neil Jamison and Muniz allowed just four hits over
8.2 innings, while Fullerton's Sean Martin scattered three hits in a career-high
5.2 innings.
Six 49ers had multiple hits while three Titans matched the feat. Costa
was hit by a pair of pitches to extend his Big West-leading total to 25.
The 49ers and Titans will wrap up the regular season on Sunday at 1:05
p.m.
