John Curtis' sacrifice fly in the seventh inning and scoreless pitching
by three relievers carried No. 3-ranked Cal State Fullerton to a 4-3 non-conference
victory Saturday night over No. 6-ranked Stanford. The win improved the
defending national champions to 2-0 while the Cardinal fell to 3-2.
Brian Stevens, Lauren Gagnier and Vinnie Pestano blanked the Cardinal
on no hits with Gagnier (1-0) getting the victory for 1.1 innings of work
and Pestano getting the save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. Ryan Schreppel
went the first six innings and allowed only two earned runs and three
hits. The Cardinal's last hit was a towering solo home run by John Mayberry,
Jr., that tied the score at 3-3 in the fourth. Stanford has only six hits
in the series.
Fullerton's game-winning rally came at the expense of reliever Nolan Gallagher
(0-1) after starter Jeff Gilmore left after six innings of 4-hit, 3-run
pitching. Brett Pill, whose triple keyed a 2-run Titan second inning,
walked to lead off the seventh. He went to second on Ronnie Prettyman's
"slash" single to left and to third when Bobby Andrews was hit
by a pitch. Curtis sliced a fly ball to left fielder Chris Lewis, who
made a running catch near the line.
Sergio Pedroza's home run gave Fullerton a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
Stanford came right back as Chris Minaker doubled with one out and scored
on a two-out single by Michael Taylor. Taylor went to second on a walk
to Ben Summerhays and scored when catcher Curtis threw a one-hopper to
second trying to get trail runner Summerhjays advancing on a Schreppel
wild pitch.
Fullerton regained the lead immediately. Danny Dorn walked and score on
Pill's triple to right center. Pill scored on a ground ball by Prettyman.
