Tim Hutting delivered a two-run go-ahead single in the eighth inning off
Cal State Fullerton ace Wes Littleton to rally the 49ers to a 7-5 win
Sunday afternoon and a Big West Conference series sweep of the No. 17
Titans.
The loss pushed Fullerton's final regular season record to 36-20 overall
and 14-10 in conference. Thanks to Cal Poly's win over UC Santa Barbara
on Sunday and UC Irvine's win over UC Riverside, the Titans finished tied
with the Anteaters for fourth place, marking the first time since 1996
and just third time in their 28-year Division I history they've finished
lower than third.
The Titans had not been swept in a conference road series since Fresno
State, then a member of the Big West Conference, won the final three games
of the 1989 season in Fresno. Fullerton was swept twice in conference
play this season (Northridge and Long Beach) for the first time since
UNLV and UC Santa Barbara ganged up on the Titans in 1986. The series
also marked the first time the Titans were swept by Long Beach on the
road and served as revenge for the 49ers, who were swept in a nonconference
series at Goodwin Field in March.
Fullerton now hopes that its strength of schedule and RPI are enough to
warrant an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament, which starts next Friday.
The regional host sites and brackets will be unveiled on Monday at 9:30
a.m. PDT on ESPN2. Fullerton has made 10 consecutive trips to the NCAA
Tournament, the fifth-longest active streak in the nation.
For the second consecutive day, the Titans blew a late-inning lead after
having to come from behind in their own right. This time, it was Friday's
starter Wes Littleton, who entered for Darric Merrell with one out in
the eighth and runners on second and third, thanks to a throwing error
by third baseman Chris Klosterman on Todd Jennings' sac bunt. Littleton,
who was tagged for career highs in hits and runs on Friday, gave up the
go-ahead single to Hutting before allowing another pair to score for a
7-4 Long Beach lead.
Fullerton scored once in the top of the ninth and was able to bring the
potential tying run to the plate with no outs, but Josh Alliston retired
the next three Titan batters to notch his sixth save and preserve the
win for Carlos Muniz (3-1).
Fullerton had rallied for a pair of runs in each of the seventh and eighth
innings off 49er starter Jered Weaver, who scattered just two hits over
the first six innings. David Fischer's two-out, two-strike, two-run single
to center field off Carlos Muniz in the eighth gave the Titans a 4-3 lead.
Long Beach broke open the scoreless pitcher's duel in the fifth with three
runs off Merrell (7-4). The frame started innocently enough with Jennings
lofting a fly ball out to center. But Hutting and Nick Orlandos had consecutive
singles and Jeremy Reed put the first run on the board with a double down
the right field line. The Titans elected to intentionally walk cleanup
hitter Paul McAnulty to load the bases, but the strategy backfired when
Nick Covarrubias laced the first pitch he saw down the left field to score
another pair of runs.
