Darric Merrell struck out a season-high seven batters and and Shane Costa
singled, doubled and tripled as No. 16 Cal State Fullerton rebounded from
a disappointing loss Saturday afternoon to hold off Nevada, 5-4, at Peccole
Park.
Earlier in the day, the Wolf Pack rallied for three runs in the eighth
to beat the Titans, 8-7, in a game that was resumed in the fifth inning
after snow had suspended action on Friday.
With the split, the Titans are 13-9, while Nevada is 10-11. Fullerton
is also 26-8 all-time against Nevada, including 16-3 in the George Horton
regime.
Merrell, who improved to 4-2 with the victory over Nevada, scattered seven
hits and walked just one in 8.1 innings. He allowed two-run homers to
catcher Craig Markel in the third and Tony Cappuccilli in the ninth, but
retired 13 batters over one stretch. Chad Cordero came on to pick up the
final two outs in the ninth for his fifth save, leaving the tying run
on second base.
Fullerton got all the offense it needed with a five-run fourth. A two-run
blast by Richie Burgos opened the scoring. Kurt Suzuki drove in a pair
with a soft single to center field and Jason Corapci chopped an RBI-single
to left for the fifth run as the Titans collected six hits in the frame
off losing pitcher Mateo Miramontes (2-3).
Earlier in the day, Matt Maguire singled in the tying runs
and JaRell McIntyre doubled in the winning run as Nevada rallied for three
runs in the eighth to upend Fullerton, 8-7. The game was picked up in
the top of the fifth inning after snow had suspended play on Friday.
The Titans' streak of 60 consecutive wins when leading after seven innings
was snapped by the same team that was the last to do it: the Wolf Pack
rallied for a 7-5 win over Fullerton on May 7, 2000. Cordero blew his
second save opportunity in as many games and suffered the loss to fall
to 1-1.
The Titans outhit the Wolf Pack, 12-9, and Nevada had four errors, but
the Titans stranded 15 runners, including eight in scoring position. The
frustration was evident when Fullerton Head Coach George Horton was ejected
following the eighth inning.
Cordero relieved Jordan DeJong with a 7-5 edge, a runner on first and
no outs in the eighth, but walked a batter and gave up three hits to surrender
the lead. Fullerton tried to rally in the ninth, putting a couple runners
on with two outs, but pinch-hitter Geoff Comfort grounded out to winning
pitcher Bryan Johnson (1-1) for the final out.
Before play was suspended on Friday, the Titans jumped on Nevada's highly-touted
righthander, Darrell Rasner, for a run in the first and four more in the
third to grab a 5-0 lead. Justin Smyres led off the game with a triple
to right-center field and crossed home plate on a line-drive single to
left by Corapci.
Fullerton scored all four of its third-inning tallies with two outs. Chris
Klosterman laced a sinking line-drive past left fielder Mike Hass for
a two-run triple and Suzuki and Chris Stringfellow – batting eighth
and ninth in the order respectively – notched consecutive run-scoring
singles for a 5-0 edge.
The Wolf Pack got to Littleton for three unearned runs in the third after
shortstop Justin Smyres was charged with a throwing error on a potential
double-play ground ball. Nevada closed the gap
to 5-4 in the fourth by opening the frame with three consecutive hits,
including an RBI-single by Mike Gillies.
Nevada centerfielder Jeff Tolotti appeared to rob Nick Fitzgerald of a
home run to lead off the top of the fifth, but Suzuki came up with his
third single of the day and Stringfellow doubled him in to give Fullerton
a 6-4 lead.
But when play resumed on Saturday, the Wolf Pack were the aggressors.
Nevada capitalized on a dropped fly ball by Titan right fielder John Hanley
to cut the Fullerton lead to one. Fitzgerald's RBI-single gave the Titans
a two-run cushion again in the top of the eighth before Nevada's rally
in the bottom of the frame.
The teams will play the rubber game of the three-game set on Sunday at
1 p.m.
