Schull and Roberts Stop Titans in Their Tracks 7-1 May 7, 2005– San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Box Score
Jimmy Schull pitched a complete-game five-hitter and Brandon Roberts drove
in four as the Cal Poly Mustangs upset the No. 1 Cal State Fullerton Titans
7-1 in a Big West conference match-up at Baggett Stadium Saturday night.
The Titans’ season-high nine game winning streak came to an end
as they fell to 35-12 overall and 12-2 in conference picking up their
first Saturday loss of 2005. The Mustangs improved to 31-15 on the season
and 9-2 in the Big West.
Schull (7-5) completely shut down the Titan offense en route to his fourth
straight win, matching a season-high nine strikeouts while holding the
three, four, five and six hitters hitless for 12 at bats. Schull’s
only walk of the night came to the leadoff hitter Sergio Pedroza in the
top of the ninth inning but went unnoticed as he retired the side to collect
his second complete game of the year.
The Mustangs got to freshman Wes Roemer (5-2) as they scored six times
on eight hits giving him his first loss in his last six starts. Roemer
struck out five Cal Poly hitters but gave the Mustangs five free bases
(three walks and two hit batters) to work with.
Cal Poly’s Brandon Roberts broke out of an 0-for-12 slump with a
3-for-5 night driving in four, highlighted by a two-run triple in the
bottom of the fourth. Roberts also added two RBI singles and a stolen
base to lead the Mustang offense.
Any momentum the Titans gained from an early lead was lost in the third
inning when Kyle Blumenthal singled to right field where Pedroza threw
a strike to catcher John Curtis seemingly putting out Brandon Roberts
at the plate. Home plate umpire Chad McCardell ruled Roberts safe on catcher’s
obstruction, leading to approximately five minutes of arguments and Head
Coach George Horton’s first ejection of the year. That gave the
Mustangs a 2-1 lead in the third inning and one in which they never looked
back, scoring five more times uncontested.
For the second straight night, Cal Poly out-hit the Titans 10-5 with only
Blake Davis standing out for Fullerton with a pair of hits. Davis led
off the game for the third time this year with a triple to the right centerfield
gap, setting up the only Titan run of the evening. Following the three-base
hit, Justin Turner promptly chopped a ball over first baseman Bret Berglund’s
head giving the Titans a brief 1-0 lead.
The two teams will be back at it in the rubber-game of the weekend series
with senior southpaw Scott Sarver looking for his eight win for Fullerton
and sophomore right-hander Gary Daley penciled in for the Mustangs. Game
time at Baggett Stadium is 1 p.m.
