49ers Eliminate CS Fullerton, Play Stanford For Championship June 1, 2002 PALO ALTO, CA-- Jered Weaver pitched a gem as No. 22-ranked Long Beach State (39-20) elimated arch rival No. 23-ranked CS Fullerton (36-22) 4-0 on the second day of the NCAA Regional at Stanford. The Beach will now play Stanford for a berth in next week's Super Regional on Sunday at 1 p.m. LBSU has to win two to advance, Stanford needs to win just once, after defeating the 49ers 5-4 earlier in the day. In one of the greatest collegiate baseball rivalries, Fullerton swept all three in Orange County earlier this season before Long Beach swept all three in Los Angeles County. At a neutral site, in Santa Clara County, The Beach won the rubber game. It was the first shutout by the 49ers over the Titans since 1999. LBSU will be playing in their sixth NCAA Regional Championship, advancing to eventual CWS berths in four of the previous five. The Dirtbags struck first blood, as Jeremy Reed hit a three-run homer to right to lead 3-0 in the top of the third. Nick Covarrubias' two-out single--extending his hit streak to 13 games-- scored Reed in the fifth to lead 4-0. Jered Weaver scattered just three hits, one in the first, one in fifth and one in the seventh, over 7.0 shutout innings, striking out seven, walking just two. Chris Demaria pitched the final two innings to close out the victory. In the day's first game, Long Beach State's rally came up short, 5-4, against host Stanford (42-16) at very windy Sunken Diamond, setting up the first ever post-season contest between Big West rivals, LBSU and CS Fullerton. Fulleton eliminated San Jose State (47-17) earlier in the day, 9-1. Chris O'Riordan's solo homer to leadoff the first inning gave Stanford a 1-0 lead. The Cardinal added three more in the second to lead 4-0. A two-run double from Andy Topham followed by an RBI single by Arik VanVandt led to the rally. Chris Genung's leadoff double in the sixth broke up Cunningham's no-hitter. Genung would later break up the shutout and make it 4-1 off a two-out, RBI single from Tim Hutting. The Beach chipped away with two more runs in the seventh as Paul McAnulty's two-strike, RBI double --extending his hit streak to 19 games-- gave LBSU their second run before a wild pitch followed by an RBI groundout from pinch hitter Paul Macaluso closed the score to 4-3. McAnulty's hit streak ended at 19 after going 0-for-3 in the nightcap. Alvarez (12-3) settled down after giving up four over the first two innings, retiring eight Cardinal and six Cardinal in a row, leaving with a runner on second with one out in the eighth. Alvarez pitched 7.1 innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on eight hits, walking one intentional and striking out four. Alvarez struck out the final two batters of the fifth after intentionally walking the bases full, to hold Stanford to a 4-0 lead. Stanford added a run in the eighth off of two wild pitches to lead 5-3. The Beach scored another run in the ninth off a two-out, pinch-hit RBI by Steve Velazco to close to within 5-4, but LBSU was unable to score off of Dan Rich who picked up his third save. Cunningham (9-2) went 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on four hits. Jeremy Reed made two more sensational catches in the outfield, robbing the Cardinal of two potential hits. Reed's defense has shined in this Regional with three full out extension catches over the first two days. STANFORD BOX SCORE
CS FULLERTON BOX SCORE | 
