49er right-hander Jared Hughes had a four-hit, complete game against the
No. 1 team in the country as Long Beach State defeated Cal State Fullerton
3-1 in a non-conference college baseball game at Blair Field.
With the loss, Fullerton falls to 17-6 and loses its first weekend series
of the year after winning five straight. Long Beach State improves to
18-10.
Hughes, who improved to 2-2 with the victory, held the Titans to just
four hits en route to his first complete game of the year. Prior to Saturday
night, Hughes longest outing was seven-inning, no-decision versus Cal
on Feb 20. Hughes struck out seven Titans without allowing a walk, giving
up only one earned run in the eighth inning.
Wes Roemer (0-1) pitched well in his first collegiate start, going 5.2
innings striking out three, but picked up his first loss with the lack
of run support.
The big blow to the Titans came in the fourth inning. After Roemer retired
the first 11 out of 12 batters he faced, Titan shortstop Blake Davis made
a throwing error to extend the inning for Long Beach State. The error
allowed Troy Tulowitzki to move to second base before 49er Brandon Godfrey
followed with an RBI-double to drive him in. Sean Boatright then promptly
banged a single up the middle scoring Godfrey, to give the 49ers a 2-0
lead.
Fullerton scored its lone run in the eighth inning with catcher John Curtis
grounding out to second base to bring home Sergio Pedroza who doubled
to lead off the inning.
The only other Fullerton threat came in the top of the first inning as
Blake Davis tripled to lead off the game for the second day in a row,
this time failing to score, with Hughes not allowing a ball out of the
infield.
Brandon Tripp, Brett Pill, Pedroza and Davis collected the Titan hits.
Justin Turner went hitless in four at bats, bringing his 15-game hit streak
to an end.
Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State drew 6,624 fans over the three
game series, the third-best, regular-season series total in Blair Field
history.
Fullerton will play a midweek game with UCLA at Jackie Robinson Stadium
Tuesday, Mar. 29 at 6:00 before opening up Big West Conference play next
weekend with UC Irvine at Goodwin Field.
