FULLERTON, Calif. — The Cal State Fullerton Titans were able to come from behind to knock off rival Long Beach State, twice by the score of 2-1 Friday at Goodwin Field.
In the first game, the Titans created a two-out rally in the eighth inning off Dirtbags reliever Matt Johnson. A hit by pitch and a pair of singles loaded the bases for the fourth time in the game. Junior Richy Pedroza had been thrown out at the plate, trying to score the tying run the previous inning, but would not be denied in the eighth.
Pedroza singled to centerfield bringing home Greg Velazquez and pinch runner Austin Diemer to give the Titans the 2-1 lead. Closer Michael Lorenzen nailed down the win with a scoreless ninth inning to notch his seventh save of the season.
Dylan Floro picked up the victory, pitching eight innings. He allowed one run on seven hits and struck out five.
Fullerton got another excellent performance from its game two starter. Freshman Kenny Mathews allowed five hits and no walks in 7 2/3 innings. He struck out six, but back-to-back wild pitches in the fourth inning enabled Long Beach State to get Ino Patron to third base where he scored the first run of the game on a Brennan Metzger sacrifice fly.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Titans responded with a pair of runs to take a 2-1 lead. They loaded the bases without hitting a ball out of the infield as Carlos Lopez and Anthony Hutting both beat out infield singles and Velazquez drew a walk.
Derek Legg scored the first run by getting hit by a pitch. Chad Wallach then hit a towering fly ball to left field that Hutting was able to tag up and score from third base.
It proved to be all the Titans needed. Mathews was lights out and redshirt freshman Grahmm Wiest entered to get the final out of the eighth inning and closed the game out in the ninth inning to get his first save of the season.
Following the game, coach Rick Vanderhook said Lorenzen was unavailable to pitch the ninth inning because he had popped a blood blister on his index finger while warming up in the bullpen.
Both teams’ first basemen, Lopez and Patron, finished with a pair of multi-hit performances.
Check out the full photo gallery from the second matchup of Cal State Fullerton/Long Beach State’s Friday night doubleheader below:
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