Cal State Fullerton junior left-hander Scott Sarver and senior righty
Jason Windsor combined on a eight-hit shutout as the No. 4 Titans defeated
No. 3 South Carolina, 4-0, on Thursday night to advance to this weekend's
National Championship series against top-seeded Texas.
Fullerton improved to 45-22 overall on the season
and became the first team to shutout two opponents in the College World
Series since Pepperdine in 1992. The Titans are also the first team to
shutout the same opponent in the CWS since California shutout Penn State
twice in 1957.
South Carolina finished its season 54-17 overall, and became the first
team to be shutout twice at the CWS since Cal State Fullerton in 1982.
Sarver (3-2), who made his first career start on June 6 in the NCAA Regionals
at Goodwin Field against Pepperdine, pitched another gem, tossing six-plus
innings, scattering five hits and striking out seven in the victory.
Windsor, who opened the College World Series for the Titans with a 14-strikeout
shutout of USC, earned his first career save, going three innings, allowing
three hits, and striking out five of the final six batters to preserve
the win.
Matt Campbell (10-6) suffered the loss for the Gamecocks, allowing four
runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out seven. USC stranded 10
runners on the evening, six in scoring position.
Fullerton junior Felipe Garcia, who entered the game as the Titans' leading
hitter at the College World Series, got Cal State Fullerton on the board
in the fourth, doubling to left centerfield to score Kurt Suzuki, who
led off with a single, for the 1-0 lead.
He was followed by Bobby Andrews, who beat out an infield hit that scored
Danny Dorn, and Neil Walton executed a perfect squeeze bunt down the first
base side, scoring Garcia for the 3-0 lead.
Ronnie Prettyman then got in on the action in the seventh, smacking his
third home run of the season halfway up the bleachers in right field on
the first pitch of the inning, staking the Titans to the 4-0 advantage.
That would be all Fullerton would need as Windsor entered the game for
Sarver after a lead-off walk in the seventh, working out of numerous jams
in the final three innings, stranding runners in scoring position in both
the seventh and eighth innings, before striking out the side in the ninth.
Seven of the nine Titan starters had hits on the night, but none of them
with multiple hits. All four runs for Fullerton were driven in by the
6-9 hitters in the lineup.
Steve Pearce led the USC offense, going 3-for-4 on the night, while Nick
Gardiner had two hits for the Gamecocks.
EXTRA BASES: Prior to the June 6 compete game victory
over Pepperdine in the regionals, Sarver had not had an appearance longer
than four innings all season (Jan. 30, the season opener vs. Stanford)...
Sarver had pitched 22.1 innings in 17 appearances until this postseason,
when he has thrown in 15 innings in two games (both starts), allowing
just one run... Cal State Fullerton has not lost back-to-back games since
Apr. 2-3 (vs. Long Beach State), and have only done it five times this
season... Only three of nine leadoff hitters reached on the night (two
singles, walk) for South Carolina... Cal State Fullerton advances to the
championship for the first time since the 1995 team won the national title...
It will be the first trip for the Titans to the National Championship
series since it's debut in 2003, and the first trip to the national title
game for Head Coach George Horton in his eight seasons at the helm of
the Fullerton baseball program.
