For the second day in a row, a Cal State Fullerton
pitcher flirted with a no-hitter at Goodwin Field. Junior Ryan Schreppel
went 6.2 innings before giving up a hit to Beau Mills in the seventh inning
as the No. 3 Titans defeated the Fresno State Bulldogs 9-0 in front of
1,890 fans Sunday afternoon.
The Titans improved to 4-1 on the season while the visiting Bulldogs head
home at 1-7.
Schreppel (1-0) had an exceptional change up working for him in his second
outing of the year, leading to nine strikeouts over eight shutout innings.
Fresno never threatened as Schreppel retired 24 of the 28 batters, never
allowing a runner to get past second base to pick up his first victory
of the year. Vinnie Pestano pitched a scoreless ninth inning in relief.
The Titans got all they needed off of Fresno starter Eddie Romero in the
second inning. Neil Walton singled home Brett Pill (who doubled two batters
earlier) to give the Titans a 1-0 lead. Romero pitched well over five
complete innings, but picked up the loss, dropping to 2-1 on the year.
Fullerton’s offense exploded again on Sunday collecting nine runs
on 13 hits. The Titans finished the weekend series out-hitting Fresno
27-3 and outscoring them 21-1 in the rain-shortened two-game series.
Fresno State’s bullpen was hit hard as the Titans collected eight
runs on eight hits over the final three innings.
Matt Garza, in relief of Romero, was roughed up in the sixth inning as
four of the seven batters he faced reached base, leading to three Fullerton
runs. Titan Bobby Anrdrews started the scoring with an RBI single on a
squeeze bunt, scoring Ronnie Prettyman. Right fielder Sergio Pedroza followed
with a two-run double to the left-center field gap scoring two to put
the Titans up 4-0.
The Titans added three more runs in the seventh (off of Ryan Penn) and
two more in the eighth inning (off of Michael Cooper), highlighted by
two pinch-hit home runs by Clark Hardman and Evan McArthur. Both shots
were two-run blasts.
Neil Walton, Pedroza and Prettyman all collected a pair of hits and a
pair of RBI.
After a day off on Monday, Fullerton will return to action Tuesday afternoon,
as they face Loyola Marymount in their first a non-conference game away
from Goodwin Field. First pitch is set for 2:00 p.m.
