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Titans
Stumble Against No. 1 Stanford in Opener Feb. 1, 2002 – Stanford, Calif. Box Score Stanford All-American pitcher Jeremy Guthrie struck out nine in six innings and paced the No. 1 Cardinal to a 7-4 nonconference win over 15th-ranked Cal State Fullerton in the season opener at Sunken Diamond Friday night. Guthrie (1-0) and teammate Ryan McCally – who allowed just one baserunner in his three innings of work – combined for 14 strikeouts, the most by a Titan opponent since Arizona State fanned that many on Feb. 23 of last season. Fullerton has lost five in a row to the Cardinal and 11 of its last 12. The Cardinal handed the Titans both of their losses at the College World Series last season. After Chris O'Riordan and Sam Fuld opened the bottom of the first with back-to-back singles, Titan starter Wes Littleton (0-1) retired the next two batters. He then worked a two-strike count on Carlos Quentin and appeared to be out of the jam, but Quentin launched a Littleton offering off the scoreboard in left field to give the Cardinal an early 3-0 lead, one they would not relinquish. Stanford tacked on an unearned run in the third when catcher Ryan Garko doubled to left field and scored when Fullerton shortstop David Munoz mishandled Jason Cooper's grounder. Fullerton finally got to Guthrie for a pair of unearned runs in the fourth. Kyle Boyer lined a one-out single off Guthrie's glove and into centerfield. A misplay by O'Riordan on a ball hit by Richie Burgos put Titan runners on the corners. Jason Corapci blooped an RBI single to left-center field to put the Titans on the board and, three batters later, Nick Fitzgerald singled to the left side of the infield to plate Burgos. Stanford answered back in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three times off Littleton. Garko and Brian Hall both had RBI-singles and Scott Dragicevich's RBI double gave the Cardinal a 7-2 lead and sent Littleton to the showers. Jordan DeJong, who relieved Littleton, retired the first five batters he faced and allowed just one hit in 3.1 innings. The Titans got a leadoff batter on for the first time when Burgos singled up the middle to open the sixth. Fullerton cashed in when designated hitter Geoff Comfort launched his first career home run, a two-run shot over the 400-foot mark in straight-away center field. Comfort, Boyer and Burgos each had two hits to pace the Titan offense. Sam Fuld went 3-for-4 and Garko and Dragicevich each had two hits for the Cardinal. Fullerton will send Jeff Housman up against Stanford's Tim Cunningham on Saturday at 1 p.m. NOTES: Fulllerton has lost five of six season openers in the Horton era and is now 15-13 all-time in openers (and 2-9 on the road)...Five of the Titans' 10 hits were infield singles...Munoz had two errors, marking the second consecutive season that a Titan shortstop committed two miscues in the opener...Chris Stringfellow's four strikeouts were the most by a Titan since Cole Hilt fanned four times against Stanford on Feb. 2, 2001...Geoff Comfort, who led all California JC players in slugging in 2000 (while at College of San Mateo), hit his first career homer
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