Clark Hardman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the top of the
10th to force in the go-ahead run and Mike Martinez escaped a bases-loaded,
one out jam in the bottom of the inning as Cal State Fullerton posted
a come-from-behind 9-8 win over Pepperdine at Eddy D. Field Stadium Wednesday
afternoon.
The Titans improved to 12-12 and can move above .500 for the first time
this season with a win at Fresno State Friday. Pepperdine dropped to 6-12.
Martinez got the win to improve to 2-1 while Pepperdine's Steve Kleen
fell to 1-2.
WIth the bases loaded and one out in the top of the 10th, P.J. Pilittere
hit a hard shot down the third base line, but third baseman Brent Haapanen
made a diving stop and recovered in time to throw out Ronnie Prettyman
at the plate. The next batter, Hardman, fouled off four straight pitches
before he was hit in the arm by Kleen's 10th pitch of the at bat.
The Waves put runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of
the 10th when Taylor Klosowski singled and Justin Sandberg's grounder
kicked off second baseman Mark Carroll's glove for a two-base error. After
an intentional walk to load the bases, Martinez got Nick Kliebert to foul
out to first base and struck out Patrick Rooney to end the nearly four-hour-long
game.
Fullerton trailed, 8-6, after David Uribes drilled a Vinnie Pestano offering
over the left field fence in the sixth for a two-run homer. But the Titans
got one run in the seventh on Neil Walton's RBI-ground out and another
in the eighth when Felipe Garcia's chopped an RBI-hit into right field.
The Titans had several opportunities to take a comfortable lead early
on, but they stranded 14 runners on the game, including 12 in scoring
position. Pepperdine led by as many as three runs before a three-run Titan
fifth inning knotted up the game at 6-6.
Fullerton, which had 17 hits -- including six doubles -- was paced by
Garcia, who had a career-high four hits and Prettyman and Hardman, who
each had three hits. Walton was 2-for-5 with three RBI.
Fullerton will play a three-game series at Fresno State this weekend.
