Kurt Suzuki went 3-for-3 and reached base in all five of his plate appearances
as Cal State Fullerton rolled to a 9-4 win over Cal Poly in a Big West
Conference game at Goodwin Field Sunday afternoon.
The Titans, who have won 13 of their past 15 games, improved to 28-18
overall and 11-1 in Big West play, at least a game ahead of Long Beach
State (pending their Sunday result against UC Santa Barbara).
Suzuki had three singles, was hit by a pitch and was intentionally walked
and has reached base in his last 11 plate appearances, four shy of the
Titan record. He has also collected hits in his last nine official at-bats,
one shy of the Fullerton record.
Senior first baseman P.J. Pilittere was 2-for-4 with a two-run triple
in the bottom of the third inning that broke a 3-3 tie. Cal Poly narrowed
the gap to a run in the fifth, but Fullerton used two-run singles by Clark
Hardman (in the sixth) and Justin Turner (in the seventh) to take control.
Titan starter MIke Martinez improved to 4-2, allowing four runs on nine
hits in 8.0 innings. Vinnie Pestano pitched a perfect ninth. Cal Poly
reliever Dennis LeDuc took the loss to fall to 4-2.
Turner, Neil Walton and Ronnie Prettyman each had a pair of hits for Fullerton.
Cal Poly was paced by Brandon Roberts and Chalon Tietje, who each had
three hits.
Fullerton will pick up Big West play next weekend when it hosts UC Riverside
in its final home series of the season.
