LONG BEACH, Calif. — Thomas Eshelman allowed only one hit in seven innings as No. 8 Cal State Fullerton took the first game of a non-conference series with rival Long Beach State, 6-0, Friday night at Blair Field.
Fullerton (18-3) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning when preseason All-American Michael Lorenzen jumped all over a hanging slider and deposited it over the left field wall.
That’s all the offense that Eshelman needed against the Dirtbags (9-13) as he was spot on all night, taking a perfect game into the fifth inning and needing only 62 pitches to complete seven innings before a long offensive eighth inning proved to be the end of his outing.
The Titans added a run in the third inning. Austin Diemer led off with a single and was sacrificed to second by Richy Pedroza. Carlos Lopez then lined a single over the shortstop to bring home Diemer.
Eshelman got another insurance run in the seventh inning. Chad Wallach walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored when shortstop Michael Hill committed his second error of the game.
A Keegan Dale bases-loaded walk and a two-run single by Diemer in the eighth provided the final tallies for the Titans, but the long inning was enough for Fullerton to pull Eshelman and give J.D. Davis some work. Davis pitched two scoreless frames, allowing a hit while striking out two.
Check out the 16-shot photo gallery from Fullerton’s pitching dominance on Friday:
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