Titans Eliminated by Fresno State

STANFORD â€”  When pinch-hitter Ryan Fullerton went to bat with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth, Cal State Fullerton appeared to need only a long fly ball to tie the score against Fresno State. A base hit probably would have won it.

But Coach George Horton expected even more. “I thought he was going to hit a home run,� Horton said. “I really did. That’s how confident I was.�

What Horton got on the 3-and-1 pitch, however, was a ground ball to third base. Craig da Luz backhanded the ball, stepped on third and threw to first for a double play.

And Fresno State’s 8-7 victory Saturday in the NCAA West Regional baseball tournament at Stanford’s Sunken Diamond ended the Titans’ late-season flourish in which they won 16 of their last 21 games, took the Big West tournament title and finished with a 39-24-1 record.

“Everything seemed to be in place for us to do it again, the way we came from behind against Nevada in the Big West tournament,� infielder Jerome Alviso said. “This time it just didn’t happen. But that’s baseball.�

The Titans would have had to have won three more games to take the regional championship and earn a College World Series berth, but that didn’t make the loss any easier.

“It was difficult, and that may be an understatement,� Horton said. “It was a shocking way to end the season, but as I told the team, it was a great baseball game, and I’m proud of the way they came back.�

The wildness of Fresno relief pitcher Tom Graham (4-3) opened the door for a Titan rally in the ninth. Graham walked leadoff batter Mike Lamb, and hit Alviso before being replaced by Casey Rowe. Scott Seal’s bunt forced Lamb at third, but Chris Beck’s fourth hit of the game drove in one run. Rowe then hit pinch-hitter Aaron Rowand, loading the bases.

Horton said he had no second thoughts about pinch hitting for Nakia Hill.

“In my mind, we had the right kid up,� Horton said. “We took out a clutch hitter in Nakia, but we thought the matchup was good for Ryan. Rowe is fastball pitcher, and Fullerton is a fastball hitter. If I had it to do over again, I would have done the same thing. If he gets the same pitch 99 more times, he probably doesn’t get jammed on it. I just hope Ryan realizes he didn’t lose the game.�

The Titans scored four runs in the first inning. Lamb singled in one run, and Seal, who started in right field ahead of Rowand, drove in two more with a triple down the right-field line. When the relay throw to third was wild, Seal came home with the fourth run of the inning.

But the Bulldogs didn’t buckle against one of Fullerton’s top pitchers, Brian Tokarse (10-3), and made the most of their eight hits in the game.

Fresno State came back for four runs off Tokarse in the fourth. With two runners on and two out, Tokarse threw an inside fastball on an 0-2 count, and Simon Tafoya nailed it for a two-run double. “That was the pitch that hurt us,� Horton said. “Brian didn’t want to throw it, but that’s the one I point to that made that inning difficult for us.�

The next batter, da Luz, homered to left center, bringing in two more runs.

The Bulldogs got three more off Tokarse in the fifth. Tokarse, who gave up six hits, yielded one of his four walks with one out, and Josh Hannah singled. The Titans decided to intentionally walk Derek Feramisco to get to Derrick Levingston, who had struck out twice in the game and was hitless in five at-bats against Tokarse in two games. Levingston lined Tokarse’s first pitch down the right-field line for a two-run double and a 7-4 Fresno lead.

Horton and Tokarse still thought it was the right move afterward. “They hit some good pitches,� Tokarse said. “They hit the clutch pitches they needed to.�

The Titans battled back for two runs in the fifth on an RBI double by Hill and a run-scoring single by Reed Johnson, but Fresno made it 8-6 when Levingston homered in the eighth off Titan closer Mike Greenlee, who had replaced Tokarse.

It was Fullerton’s earliest exit from a regional since 1983, losing two of three games.

In other West Regional games:

Stanford 9, Santa Clara 2--Brent Hoard and Jeff Austin combined on a four-hitter and John Gall hit a grand slam as Stanford, unbeaten in the tournament, advanced to today’s finals.

Fresno State 10, Santa Clara 7--Fresno State (40-27) came back with a 10-7 victory over Santa Clara Saturday night to advance to today’s championship round against top-seeded Stanford.