UC Santa Barbara Series Preview

Titans at UC Santa Barbara (Caesar Uyesaka Stadium)

Friday 3 p.m., Saturday 3 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m.

By FullertonBaseballFan

Fullerton returned to action after taking the weekend off due to a bye in the Big West schedule with a midweek game at Goodwin Field against USC before hitting the road to play Pacific last weekend.  The Titans won all four games last week with a 4-2 win against the Trojans before sweeping the Tigers 5-2, 21-4 and 10-0 to move one game ahead of Long Beach in the conference standings in Fullerton’s last visit to Stockton before Pacific leaves the Big West after the 2013 season.

Fullerton only had six hits against USC but took advantage of twelve walks and, despite leaving fourteen runners on base, was able to get enough guys around the bases and took advantage of some solid pitching to beat the Trojans and get their first Tuesday win against a Pac 11 team after losing to USC, WSU, UCLA and ASU previously on Tuesdays (the Titans did beat ASU in their second game in Tempe). USC scored a run in the second inning and the Titans stranded eight runners, five getting on base on BB's and HBP's, over the first four innings before they took the lead with two runs in the fifth when Carlos Lopez walked, Michael Lorenzen doubled him to third, Lopez scored on Anthony Hutting's ground out to tie the game and Lorenzen scored on J.D. Davis' ground out.  Fullerton put the game out of reach with two runs in the sixth when Richy Pedroza and Ivory Thomas led off the inning with walks and Lornenzen tripled them in.  The Titans used seven pitchers on a staff day that was used to get the pitching staff back in the groove after not playing last weekend.  Jose Cardona started and allowed a run in two innings, Koby Gauna threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings to pick up the win and Lorenzen finished things off in the ninth for his Big West leading thirteenth save.  Lorenzen was the hitting star of the night in his best game of the season with three extra base hits (two 2B's and a 3B), two RBI and a run and Pedroza was on base four times with two hits and two walks.

Fullerton got off to a lead in Friday’s game when Hutting led off the second with a double and Matt Chapman singled him in.  The Titans held the 1-0 lead until the fifth when Pacific got to Dylan Floro for two runs on three hits.  Fullerton came right back to tie the game in the sixth when Hutting led off the inning with a HBP, J.D. Davis walked and Anthony Trajano’s RBI single tied things up.  The Titans took the lead for good with three runs in the eighth when the wheels fell off for the Tigers on defense.  Hutting got things started again with a walk, Chapman bunted him to second, J.D. Davis hit a blooper that should have been caught but fell in and the runners moved up on an errant throw in from CF, Hutting and Davis scored on Trajano’s fielder’s choice grounder when Hutting’s hard slide dislodged the ball from the catcher’s glove (with the catcher leaving the game with an arm injury) with Trajano advancing to second on the play and he scored on back to back wild pitches that the backup catcher couldn’t keep in front of him.  Floro threw a complete game in his return to the area where he is from and held Pacific to two runs on five hits with two walks and seven strikeouts to improve to 7-3 in front of many friends and family members.  Pedroza had three hits, Thomas had two hits and Chapman had two hits, a run and an RBI to lead the Titans offense.

Pacific came into the series a pretty banged up team and was even more shorthanded after losing two more players in Friday’s game and Fullerton took advantage of those injuries to bludgeon the Tigers over the next two games.  The Titans scored in every inning on Saturday except for the fifth on their way to scoring 21 runs on 21 hits and got things started with three runs in the first when Pedroza led off with a double, Thomas reached base on an error, a wild pitch moved them up and Lopez singled them in, Lopez stole second and Hutting drove him in.  Allen Riley hit a two run HR in the bottom of the inning for Pacific off of Kenny Mathews before the Titans extended the lead to 9-2 with a run in the second, two runs in the third and three runs in the fourth.   Trajano singled to lead off the second, Casey Watkins bunted him over and Thomas singled him in.  Lorenzen doubled to lead off the third, Hutting walked and Davis doubled them both in.  Thomas walked, Lorenzen singled, Thomas scored on a wild pitch, Chapman singled in Lorenzen, Chapman moved up on a wild pitch and Hutting singled him in for the three runs for Fullerton in the fourth and the rout was on.  The Titans continued to hammer the Pacific bullpen and scored eleven runs over the last three innings with Lopez topping things off with a grand slam.  Mathews picked up the win to improve to 5-0 with seven solid innings and allowed three runs on three hits with no walks and two strikeouts.  Fourteen Titans either got a hit, scored a run or drove in a run with Lorenzen, Chapman, and Watkins each getting three hits, Hutting driving in three runs, Davis and Matt Orloff both driving in two runs and Lopez driving in six runs on his way to winning Big West player of the week honors.

Titans Wipe Out Tigers in Clean Sweep

By Don Hudson

Cal State Fullerton Titans        241  010  002   -    10   17   1
University of the Pacific Tigers 000  000  000   -      0     3   4


The Cal State Fullerton Titans finished the job yesterday, scoring early and often and rode the complete game, three-hit pitching of Grahamm Wiest to defeat the University of the Pacific Tigers and complete the sweep.  It was the tenth consecutive weekend series win for the Titans and put them in sole possession of first place in the Big West Conference, one game ahead of the Long Beach State Dirtbags.  Wiest was brilliant in mowing through the Tigers’ line-up, throwing just 85 pitches and facing 29 batters, just two over the minimum.

By the time Wiest threw his first pitch, his teammates had already staked him to a 2-0 lead.  Ivory Thomas singled with one out and scored on a double by Carlos Lopez.  A two-out RBI single brought in Lopez, just ahead of the throw from UOP rightfielder Allen Riley.

Catcher Jared Deacon gave his team a “pick me up” in the bottom of the inning when he thwarted an attempted stolen base.  After getting their butts handed to them the night before, UOP Coach Ed Sprague seemed to be signaling a more aggressive posture on Sunday when he ran his leadoff man, who had reached on an error, despite trailing by a couple runs.  Deacon’s throw seemed to exhaust the Tigers’ early hopes.

All hope was lost when the Titans scored four runs in the second against starter Mike Hager.  Matt Orloff, starting at second-base after knocking out two hits off the bench on Saturday, led off with a single and went to second on a perfectly executed hit-and-run single by Deacon through the vacated shortstop hole.  A sacrifice by Richy Pedroza and a HBP to Thomas loaded the bases, before Lopez lifted a deep flyball towards rightfield.  The runners weren’t sure if it would be caught, but it carried and bounced off the wall, just missing his second grand slam in two days.  Orloff and Deacon scored on the play, with Thomas and Lopez subsequently scoring on another clutch two-out hit by Hutting.
The Titans made it 7-0 when they converted the extra point in the third inning, all with two out.

Deacon and Pedroza singled before Thomas delivered an RBI-single.

The lone bright spot for the Tigers was the outstanding relief work of lefthander Kyle Crawford, who entered the game in the top of the fourth and allowed no earned runs in six innings, although he was victimized by three unearned runs.  You had to feel badly for UOP third-baseman Taylor Murphy, an outfielder playing out of position due to the rash of injuries: he made four errors in the game.

There is no mercy rule in Division I baseball, but I’ll spare the rest of the details.  The Titans scored an unearned run in the fifth and two more in the ninth inning.  While Wiest was clearly the game’s top star, the offense spread the lifting around.  They posted 17 hits, with 3 by Pedroza and two each by Lopez, Thomas, Hutting, Orloff and Deacon.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So what did we learn this weekend?

College Baseball BCS (May 8)

By Samuel Chi

There isn't a lot of shakeups near the top of this week's Baseball BCS standings, as Florida State holds the No. 1 spot for the third straight week. The Seminoles are a unanimous No. 1 choice of all five polls and rank No. 1 in the ISR and No. 2 in the RPI.

Baylor is second, followed by a trio of SEC teams - Florida, South Carolina and LSU - followed by another Lone Star entry in Rice. Oregon, at No. 7, is the highest ranked West Coast team.

The Titans just missed being in the top 10, thanks to the continued low rankings in the USA Today coaches poll and NCBWA poll. UCLA checks in at No. 9 and Stanford at No. 13.

No new teams made it into the top 25, but several first-time entries are lurking. TCU is back in the picture at No. 26 and Dallas Baptist makes its BCS debut at No. 27.

The conference breakdown: SEC (7), Pac-12 (6), ACC (6), Big 12 (4), Conference USA (3), WCC (2), Big East (2), Big Ten (1), Big West (1), Mountain West (1), Independent (1).

Click to enlarge

West Coast Late-Season RPI Report (May 7)

By FullertonBaseballFan

(Titans' remaining opponents in Orange, past opponents in blue)


Big West 

Fullerton 14 (-1) - 30-14, 12-3 (1-0 vs. USC, 3-0 at Pacific) 
Long Beach 51 (+5) - 23-21, 11-4 (0-1 vs. UCLA, 2-0 vs. LMU H/A/H - GAME 3 MON) 
Irvine 61 (+6) - 27-17, 11-7 (1-0 at SDSU, 3-0 vs. UCSB) 
Cal Poly 77 (-11) - 27-19, 10-8 (1-0 vs. P'dine, 1-2 at UC Davis) 
Northridge 125 (-11) - 20-23, 7-8 (2-1 at Riverside)
UCSB 134 (-19) - 23-22, 9-9 (0-3 at Irvine)  
Riverside 168 (-19) - 16-26, 5-10 (1-1 at UNLV, 1-2 vs. Northridge)
UC Davis 197 (+2) - 18-25, 6-9 (0-1 at Fresno, 2-1 vs. Cal Poly)
Pacific 241 (-2) - 11-34, 1-14 (0-3 vs. Fullerton) 


IN (1) - Fullerton.  The Titans are a lock to be in a regional for the 21st straight season and have a good chance at being a regional host if they go 5-1 against UCSB and Riverside but have almost no chance of being a national seed.

BUBBLE (2) - Long Beach, Irvine.  The RPI needs report says Long Beach would need to go 10-1 the rest of the way to get their RPI down to 45 due to series with UC Davis and Pacific coming up. They probably need to go at least 5-1 in those series and 3-2 in their other games (LMU today, P'dine and the Fullerton series) to stay in the conversation for an at-large bid.  The RPI needs report says Irvine would need to go 11-1 the rest of the way to get their RPI down to 45 due to series with Northridge, Bakersfield and UC Davis coming up.  They also have three midweek games left with USD and UCLA to help boost their RPI. They probably need to go 2-1 in their midweek games and 7-2 in their weekend series to stay under consideration for an at-large.  One of these teams will probably make it into the regional field and end up being a 3 seed at UCLA.  If both make the field, the other one would end up being a 3 seed at Stanford/Arizona.

OUT (6) - Cal Poly, Northridge, UCSB, Riverside, UC Davis, Pacific.

Cal Poly played their way out of any at-large consideration with a series loss at UC Davis, their fourth straight series loss on the road.


Pac 11

UCLA 3 (+1) - 31-13, 12-9 (1-0 at Long Beach, 2-1 vs. Purdue)  
Oregon 5 (+11) - 34-14, 16-8 (2-0 at Gonzaga,  2-1 at Arizona)
Stanford 15 (+7) - 29-14, 11-10 (0-1 at San Jose, 1-2 at OSU)
Arizona 20 (-1) - 30-15, 13-8 (1-2 vs. Oregon)
OSU 28 (+1) - 30-15, 11-10 (2-1 vs. Stanford)
ASU 30 (-5) - 29-17, 14-10 - INELIGIBLE  (3-0 vs. Utah)  
Washington 42 (+7) - 26-18, 11-10 (3-0 at USC)
USC 73 (-20) - 22-21, 7-13 (0-1 at Fullerton, 0-3 vs. Washington) 
Cal 75 (-1) - 25-19, 9-12 (2-1 at WSU)
WSU 82 (-9) - 23-20, 9-11 (1-2 vs. Cal)
Utah 203 (-8 ) - 12-33, 5-16 (0-3 vs. ASU)


IN (5) - UCLA, Oregon, Stanford, Arizona, OSU.  UCLA and Oregon have the inside track on national seeds - UCLA due to their RPI and Oregon due to series wins AT UCLA, Stanford and Arizona.  Stanford and Arizona are probably battling for the fourth western regional host with the other likely to end up as a 2 seed at Fullerton.  Arizona swept Stanford in Tucson but Stanford has an easy finishing stretch (WSU, at Utah, Cal) to shoot up in the conf standings.  OSU is a solid 2 seed wherever the NCAA tells the plane to fly to.

BUBBLE (1) - Washington.  The Huskies have played their way into at-large consideration by going 5-1 in their last two Pac 11 series (at Utah and USC).  If they can go 4-5 in their last three series (UCLA, at ASU, WSU) they will probably get into a regional for the first time in eight years since Tim Lincecum pitched there.  They would be a 3 seed wherever the NCAA tells the plane to fly to.

OUT (5) - ASU, USC, Cal, WSU, Utah.  USC won home series with Cal and OSU within the last month but sweeps at ASU and at home this weekend to UW were the nail in the coffin.  Cal has a brutal finishing stretch vs. Arizona and UCLA and at Stanford and could play their way into the field by winning at least two of those series but it isn't likely.  WSU lost home series to ASU and Cal the last two weeks to end any at-large hopes they had.


WCC

San Diego 25 (+1) - 36-11, 13-5 (3-0 at BYU)
Gonzaga 37 (-7) - 29-17, 9-9 (0-2 vs. Oregon, 2-1 at St. Mary's)
P'dine 38 (-10) - 26-18, 9-6 (0-1 at Cal Poly, 2-1 vs. USF)
St. Mary's 85 (+5) - 22-23, 6-12 (0-1 at Nevada, 1-2 vs. Gonzaga)
Portland 87 (-1) - 21-16, 10-8 (DNP)
LMU 98 (-30) - 21-20, 9-6 (0-2 vs. Long Beach - H/A/H - 3RD GAME MON) 
USF 121 (+6) - 22-28, 9-9 (1-0 at Sac State, 1-2 at P'dine)
Santa Clara 131 (-1) - 20-20, 3-12 (2-0 at Seattle)
BYU 136 (-8 ) - 18-21, 7-8 (0-1 at Utah Valley, 0-3 vs. San Diego)


IN (1) - San Diego.  The Toreros are looking like they will be a 2 seed at UCLA unless the roof caves in their last two series (LMU, at P'dine).

BUBBLE (2) - Gonzaga, P'dine.  Gonzaga still has four non-conf games left to boost their RPI (series vs. ASU, midweek with WSU) and series vs. Portland and at BYU.  They need to improve their conf record to stay safely in the field.  They are looking like a 3 seed at Oregon.  P'dine's conf record is better and they probably need to win two of three conf series (BYU, at LMU, USD) to feel safe.  They are looking like they will be a 3 seed at Fullerton.

OUT (6) - St. Mary's, Portland, LMU, USF, Santa Clara, BYU.  The only team with even faint hopes would be Portland, who has a series left with Gonzaga and three games left with Oregon/OSU to boost their RPI.


WAC

New Mexico State 27 (-6) - 30-17, 7-5 (0-1 vs. Texas Tech, 0-3 at Hawaii)
Hawaii 65 (+28 ) - 28-18, 8-4 (3-0 vs. NMSU)
Nevada 80 (-16) - 26-20, 7-5 (1-0 vs. St. Mary's, 1-2 at Seattle)
La. Tech 109 (+15) - 23-22, 6-9 (3-0 vs. San Jose State)
Sac State 114 (-18 ) - 25-23, 8-7 (0-1 vs. USF, 1-2 at Fresno State)
Fresno State 132 (+2) - 21-23, 4-8 (1-0 vs. UC Davis, 2-1 vs. Sac State)
San Jose State 187 (-12) - 21-20, 5-7 (1-0 vs. Stanford, 0-3 at La. Tech)

IN (1) - NMSU.  The Aggies have lost six in a row and have the two worst teams in the WAC coming up (Fresno, San Jose) so they should be able to right the ship.  They are likely to be a 3 seed at Arizona (if they host) or at a regional in Texas (Baylor, Texas A&M or Rice).

BUBBLE (1) - Hawaii.  They would probably need to go 5-1 in their last two series (at Sac State, vs. Nevada) and play well in the WAC tournament to have any shot at an at-large bid.

OUT (5) - Nevada, La Tech, Sac State, Fresno, San Jose.  One of these teams will miss out on the WAC tournament and the other four are hoping the roulette wheel lands on their number in the WAC tournament to win the automatic bid.


MWC

TCU 33 (+8 ) - 29-16, 13-5 (1-0 vs. Oklahoma, 2-1 vs. New Mexico)
New Mexico 88 (-3) - 27-21, 13-5 (1-2 at TCU)
San Diego State 158 (+6) - 22-27, 11-10 (0-1 vs. Irvine, 2-1 vs. UNLV)
UNLV 224 (-13) - 22-27, 6-15 (1-1 vs. Riverside, 1-2 at SDSU)
Air Force 258 (+2) - 11-33, 5-13 (1-3 at Kansas Tournament)


IN (1) - TCU.  The Horned Frogs fought thru a ton of injuries but are getting healthy and playing well at the right time.  They are looking like a 2 or 3 seed, depending on how they finish, in a regional in Texas (Baylor, Rice or Texas A&M).

OUT (4) - New Mexico, SDSU, UNLV, Air Force.  New Mexico buried themselves by starting 2-9 and will be a dangerous team for TCU in the MWC tournament (teams split series, each winning at home).  The other three teams look like they will just be opponents for TCU and UNM to play in the MWC tournament.


Independents/Others

Utah Valley 60 (+17) - 35-11, 20-0 (1-0 vs. BYU, 4-0 at Houston Baptist)
Bakersfield 167 (-5) - 19-23 (0-3 at NC State)
Seattle 191 (-13) - 17-20 (0-2 vs. Santa Clara, 2-1 vs. Nevada)


BUBBLE (1) - Utah Valley.  They have their RPI down to 60 but will be playing some RPI anchors the rest of the way.  They have won 28 in a row and could end up winning 40 in a row to finish 47-11 and if they do, the NCAA selection committee will have an interesting decision on their hands.

OUT (2) - Bakersfield, Seattle.

'Black Jack' Titans Take Down the House

By Don Hudson

Cal State Fullerton Titans      312  301  236  -   21   21   0
University of the Pacific Tigers 200  100  001  -     4     7    4

The Titans’ 5-2 win in the series opener had all the physical play of a football game; the middle game on Saturday had scoring more typically associated with football.  With the Titans’ (29-14, 11-3) 21-4 clobbering of University of the Pacific, the Titans clinched their tenth consecutive weekend series win and moved into sole possession of the Big West Conference lead, a half game ahead of Long Beach State.  (The Dirtbags are playing outside the conference this weekend against Jason Gill’s Loyola Marymount University Lions.)

Our Game 1 recap reported two UOP players left the game with injuries, subsequently determined to be a concussion (first-baseman Erik Lockwood) and broken arm (catcher Jason Taasaas).  Tigers skipper Ed Sprague had no options but to use a patch-work line-up that included a freshman walk-on third-string catcher (Dallas Correa), a first-baseman (Daniel Johnston) playing just his second game at the position and third-baseman (Curtis Gomez) playing the position for just the fourth time.

The Titans kicked a field goal in the top of the first.  After Richy Pedroza led off with a double and Ivory Thomas reached on an error and advanced on a wild pitch, Carlos Lopez delivered a two-run single.  Lopez stole second and scored the third run of the inning on a single by Anthony Hutting, following a walk to Matt Chapman.

Pacific came back with a safety in the bottom of the first on a double and two-run homer by switch-hitter Allen Riley against winning pitcher Kenny Mathews.

The Titans scored in the second on a leadoff single by Anthony Trajano up the middle, a sacrifice by Casey Watkins and an RBI single by Thomas.  They added two more runs to make it 6-2 in the top of the third on a double and stolen base by Michael Lorenzen, a walk to Hutting and a two-run double to right-centerfield by J.D. Davis.

The Titans kicked another field goal in the fourth inning, with most of the damage coming with two outs.  Thomas had walked and nearly stole second about ten times, each time returning to first after Lorenzen fouled off pitches.  Thomas eventually came around to score on a single by Lorenzen and a wild pitch.  Chapman’s single drove in Lorenzen.  A base hit by Hutting drove in Chapman and the rout was on.

The last good thing that happened for Pacific was a solo home run by Daniel Johnston in the bottom of the fourth inning.

I’ll spare you the details of how the remaining runs scored and stick to the highlights.  The Titans replaced six of the nine offensive starters mid-game and played station-to-station baseball, but the runs continued to amass against the inept pitching and defense of UOP.

Titans Emerge from Collision with Tigers

By Don Hudson

Cal State Fullerton Titans         010  001  030  -   5   11   0
University of the Pacific Tigers 000  020  000  -   2     5    3

For the many Titans fans that pine for the return of football to campus, you would have loved last night’s game.

In a game that included three bone-jarring collisions, the Cal State Fullerton Titans rode the complete game pitching of Dylan Floro (7-3, 2.25) to a 5-2 win over the University of the Pacific Tigers in the series opener at Klein Family Field in Stockton, CA.  Floro allowed just five hits and posted seven strikeouts, to the delight of a throng of friends and family members who came out to support him.  Floro hails from nearby Merced, CA.

Facing hard-luck losing pitcher Michael Benson, the Titans got on the scoreboard first with a solo tally in the second inning.  Anthony Hutting led off with a double to left-centerfield and scored on base hit up the middle by Matt Chapman.  It was a nice piece of hitting by Chapman, who battled back after falling behind in the count.

Floro walked a batter in the second, but he was aided by an inning-ending double-play on a soft liner to second-baseman Richy Pedroza on a hit-and-run play.

The Titans had Benson on the hook in the third when Pedroza led off with a single and went to second when Ivory Thomas placed a groundball through the vacated shortstop hole on a perfectly executed hit-and-run play.  Carlos Lopez lifted a deep flyball that went approximately 400 feet – caught just in front of the 405 foot sign in centerfield.  Pedroza tagged and went to third – had the relay been slow or even slightly misplayed, I think Coach Vanderhook would have kept him wheeling towards home.  But it brought up cleanup hitter Michael Lorenzen with one out and runners at the corners – he hit the first pitch for a 6-4-3 double-play.

The Tigers did not get their first hit against Floro until the fourth inning – a questionable hit at that.  Leadoff man Tyler Sullivan bunted in front of the plate.  Floro’s throw seemed to be easily ahead of the runner, but it was a little wide and pulled Lopez off the bag.  After a strikeout, stolen base and walk put two runners aboard with one out, Lopez came to rescue of Floro with a nice backhand grab of a line-drive and a throw to second to double off the lead runner and end the inning.

Pacific Series Preview

Titans at Pacific (Klein Family Field)

Friday 6 p.m., Saturday 6 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m.

By FullertonBaseballFan

Before Fullerton took last weekend off, the Titans played a critical Big West series at Goodwin Field with Cal Poly and won a hard fought series by winning the opener 6-1, losing the second game 8-6 and rallying to win the third and deciding game in extra innings 5-4 to remain tied for first in the conference standings at 9-3.  The Mustangs are a young and talented team and have been playing inconsistently since sweeping their first two weekend series and they lost two of their first three conference series, with a sweep of Irvine in between the series losses, and they gave Fullerton all they could handle.

Fullerton jumped on Cal Poly starter Joey Wagman early in the first game by scoring runs in the second and third innings.  Anthony Hutting singled to lead off the second, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a SF by Clay Williamson.  Jared Deacon got on base on an error to lead off the third, went to second on a single by Richy Pedroza and scored on an RBI single by Michael Lorenzen.  The Titans broke things open with four runs in the sixth when Carlos Lopez and Lorenzen led off the inning with singles, Hutting drove in Lopez with a double and Lorenzen scored and Hutting advanced to third on error by the RF to knock Wagman out of the game.  Hutting scored on a wild pitch for the third run of the inning, Williamson followed with a single, Derek Legg doubled and Williamson scored the final run of the inning on another wild pitch.  Dylan Floro allowed hits in each of the first five innings but was able to escape without any damage and retired the Mustangs in order in the sixth and seventh before Cal Poly finally put a run on the board with three hits in the eighth.  Floro scattered ten hits and didn’t walk a batter while allowing only that one run and struck out eight batters to improve his record to 6-3.  The hitting leaders for Fullerton were Hutting with two hits, two runs and an RBI and Lorenzen with two hits, a run and an RBI.

The second game of the series was a pitchers duel between Cal Poly starter Kyle Anderson and Kenny Mathews until Fullerton scored twice in the bottom of the fourth.  Lorenzen got things started by getting on base on an error, Matt Chapman doubled, Ivory Thomas hit an RBI single and Hutting brought in the second run with a SF.  The Mustangs had two runners on with two outs in the fifth when the wheels fell off for the Titans when Big West HR leader Mitch Haniger hit his eighth HR, Mathews walked the next hitter, gave up a single and Nick Torres hit the second three run HR of the inning and Cal Poly took a 6-2 lead, which didn’t last long when Fullerton scored four runs in the bottom half of the inning to tie things up.  Anthony Trajano and Lopez singled with two outs, Lorenzen doubled them in to cut the lead in half, Chapman was hit by a pitch and Thomas tripled to left over a drawn in outfield to tie the game.  Willy Kuhl came into the game in the sixth and struck out two hitters in the sixth and seventh and struck out the first two batters of the eighth when Chris Hoo doubled and pinch-hitter Alex Michaels hit a HR off of the RF foul pole to give the Mustangs an 8-6 lead.  Reed Reilly came into the game for Cal Poly in the sixth inning and allowed only one hit while holding Fullerton scoreless for the last four innings to pick up the win.  Kuhl struck out eight batters in 3 2/3 IP but took the loss on Michaels’ HR to fall to 2-3.  Thomas had two hits and three RBI, Lorenzen had two hits, two runs and two RBI and Lopez had two hits and a run for the Titans.