Shane Costa went 3-for-5 with a three-run homer and extended his hitting
streak to 21 games to pace 15th-ranked Cal State Fullerton to a 9-2 win
over UC Santa Barbara in a Big West Conference game at Caesar Uyesaka
Stadium Sunday afternoon.
The Titans, who have won 15 of their past 18 games, swept their fourth
series of the season and improved to 27-12 overall and 10-2 in conference
play. The win also moved the Titans a half-game ahead of Long Beach State
(at Miami this weekend) for first in the conference. The Gauchos fell
to 16-24 and 3-9.
Costa went 8-for-14 with two doubles, a triple, a homer and five RBI in
the three-game series and raised his average to .401. His 21-game streak
is the longest by a Titan since Spencer Oborn hit safely in 37 consecutive
games – one short of the school record – in 1999.
Fullerton's Jordan DeJong won his third straight game to improve to 7-2.
He allowed just two runs on seven hits, while striking out four and walking
three in seven-plus innings. Sean Martin worked the final two innings
for Fullerton.
The Titans used a little luck to manufacture the game's first run in the
second. Chris Stringfellow led off with a high pop fly on the infield
that went for a double when shortstop Dave Licht and second baseman Chris
Malec lost the ball in the sun. Stringfellow moved to third on David Fischer's
grounder to second and scored on a bloop single to right by Chris Klosterman.
The Gauchos evened things up on an RBI-single by Ryan
Spilborghs in the third and took a 2-1 lead on Taylor Vogt's first home
run – a solo shot to center. But Costa responded with a three-run
blast to left field off Gaucho starter Matt Moran (1-2) in the top of
the fifth, which gave the Titans a 4-2 lead.
The Titans put up another three-spot in the sixth. Klosterman and Justin
Smyres had two-out RBI-singles and Costa doubled off the first baseman's
glove and down the line to score another run and give Fullerton a 7-2
egde. David Fischer doubled and later scored on a wild pitch in the eighth
and Smyres scored on an errant throw following Costa's hit-and-run single.
Fullerton heads into its busiest week of the season with games Tuesday
(at UCLA) and Wednesday (home vs. Vanguard) before hosting Cal State Northridge
next weekend.
