Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
35-19, 0
Cal State Fullerton
37-17, 0
Fullerton Takes Game One 4-1
5/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 23, 2008
LONG BEACH-- Two Long Beach State errors each led to double the amount of runs intended in the fourth and sixth innings, leading No. 8-ranked CS Fullerton (37-17, 16-6 Big West) to a 4-1 victory over the No. 18-ranked Dirtbags (35-19, 14-8 Big West) on a rain-extended Friday evening before 2,532 fans at Blair Field.
The Titans, who now lead the conference by two games, can wrap up the conference with one more win.
The Titans struck first in the series as a Jared Clark RBI double made it 1-0 in the fourth, before an error by second baseman Jason Tweedy allowed Clark to score with two outs and make it 2-0. Clark's RBI double in the sixth then made it 3-0, before a one-out sacrifice fly following a Danny Espinosa error at short made it 4-0.
Mother Nature delayed the game in the bottom of the sixth for one hour and 37 minutes, with Fullerton leading 4-0. After the delay and 10 pitches by Jeff Kaplan (11-1), LBSU put runners on the corners with one out. A groundout against reliever Michael Morrison made it 4-1.
Morrison walked the first batter in the eighth, before being relieved by closer Adam Jorgenson. Jorgenson pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth for his 10th save.
Kaplan had allowed just two infield singles in five shutout innings for the Titans, throwing 72 pitches before the delay. Kaplan went 5.1 innings, giving up a run on three hits.
Andrew Liebel (8-3) had retired eight in row prior to Josh Fellhauer's leadoff single in the fourth. Liebel went the first six innings, all before the delay, giving up four runs (two earned) on six hits. His streak of 19-straight starts pitching into the seventh also came to an end. Tyler Topp pitched the final three scoreless innings.
It was Liebel's (pronounced LEE-bull) first loss since April 11.
RHP Jake Thompson (2-5, 4.48) is slated to start game two for the Dirtbags at 6:30 p.m., with Sunday still at 1 p.m. and RHP Vance Worley (6-3, 4.55) pitching for LBSU.
Regional site announcements will be on Sunday at approximately 4 p.m.with the 64-team bracket announced at 9:30 a.m. on ESPN on Memorial Day.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kaplan, Jeff (11-1)
L: Liebel, Andrew (8-3)
S: Jorgenson, Adam (10)
Batting:
2B: Clark, Jared 2
RBI: Clark, Jared 2 ; Weeks, Joel 1
SH: Colon, Christian 2
SF: Weeks, Joel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Fellhauer, Josh 1 ; Colon, Christian 1 ; Clark, Jared 2
SB: Fellhauer, Josh 1
Batting:
2B: Godfrey, Brandon 1
RBI: Tinoco, Steve 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mittelstaedt, TJ 1
CS: Howell, Travis 1
