Josh Fellhauer had four hits in Cal State Fullerton's 15-5 win over Texas A&M.
The Cal State Fullerton Titans visited Olsen Field to take on the Texas A&M Aggies in a rare mid-week match-up of top ten teams. The Titans entered the contest with an eight game winning streak after impressive back-to-back weekend sweeps of Stanford and Southern Miss. After four lead changes in the game, Cal State Fullerton pulled away late to win their ninth straight game.
The Titans jumped out to an early lead after a Dustin Garneau RBI single in the second inning and a Josh Fellhauer RBI single in the third. Texas A&M would respond with a two spot in the bottom of the third inning when Brodie Greene belted a two-run homer to left center field to tie the game.
The Aggies took their only lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning when Kyle Colligan belted a line drive homerun over the left field wall. Colligan led Texas A&M hitters at the plate, tallying three hits in four at bats.
Cal State Fullerton bounced back in the top of the fifth, scoring two runs on a Fellhauer two-out homerun to bring the score to 4-3 in favor of the Titans. The Aggies would again tie the game in the bottom of the frame thanks to a Brooks Raley leadoff double followed by a Dylan Petrich RBI single.
The Titans offense didn’t stop there. The sixth inning began for Cal State Fullerton with a Khris Davis opposite field homerun. Garneau then laced a triple off the wall in center field, his second of three hits on the night. Joe Scott would bring him in to score on an RBI groundout to the short stop to make the score 6-4 in favor of the Titans.
The Aggies cut the lead to 6-5 in the bottom of the sixth when Adam Smith lead off the inning with a sharp line drive to left field. He would advance to third on a wild pickoff attempt by Kyle Witten and later score on a wild pitch.
However, that was all the runs the Aggies could muster on the evening, and the Titans’ bats were far from done. An RBI double from Garneau scored Davis after a leadoff walk in the top of the eighth to give Cal State Fullerton a 7-5 lead. The Titans would then erupt for eight runs in the top of the ninth, highlighted by a two run homerun from Gary Brown, a solo shot from Christian Colon, and a three RBI double from Joe Scott.
It goes without saying that the Titans had their way with the Aggie pitching staff on the night. Cal State Fullerton racked up twenty one hits in the game in forty five plate appearances. Colon and Fellhauer contributed to the offensive attack with four hits each, and three other Titans had three hits on the evening.
Witten got the victory for the Titans, working one and two thirds innings while only allowing one unearned run. Ross Hales took the loss for the Aggies, allowing two runs on three hits in one and two thirds innings pitched. The starters, Noe Ramirez for Cal State Fullerton and Clayton Ehlert for Texas A&M, each threw four and two thirds innings allowing four earned runs.
Cal State Fullerton improved to 10-2 on the year with the win, and the Titans will be playing in the Oklahoma State Tournament with a pair of games against both Oklahoma State and Rhode Island this weekend. The Aggies fell to 11-4 on the season, and Texas A&M will open Big 12 conference play this weekend with a series against the Baylor Bears.
