March 3, 2009
SAN DIEGO - The seventh-ranked Cal State Fullerton Titans had too much offense and too much pitching as they overcame an early deficit and went on to defeat San Diego State, 7-2, Tuesday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The win was the fifth straight for Fullerton as it improved to 6-2 while SDSU dropped below the .500 mark for the first time this season at 4-5.
Freshman right-hander Ryan O'Sullivan, who was the starter a week ago against CSUF, but was not involved in the decision, began Tuesday evening's contest in fine fashion, retiring nine of the first 10 batters he faced.
His teammates provided a pair of runs in the bottom of the third to stake him to a 2-0 lead. Brandon Meredith was hit by pitch to lead off the frame and was sacrificed to second by Jomel Torres. With two out, Brandon Decker drove Meredith home with a single, and after stealing second, Decker scored on a base hit by Mitch Blackburn.
The visitors cut that lead in half, scoring on three singles in their half of the fourth including an RBI hit by first baseman Jared Clark. Two innings later, they took the lead for good, notching three runs against the Aztec starter to make it a 4-2 game. A walk and four singles accounted for the scoring as O'Sullivan would suffer the loss to drop to 0-1.
Titan starting pitcher, Noe Ramirez (1-0), had little trouble with the Aztec hitters outside of the third inning as he retired the side in order in the first two frames as well as the fourth through sixth. His string of retiring 12 straight batters ended in the seventh when Guy Willeford singled with two out. Meredith was then hit by pitch for the second time in the game, but Ramirez got out of trouble by retiring Torres on a fielder's choice.
Cal State Fullerton added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh and one more in the ninth off Aztec reliever Andrew Leary. The Titans' Ryan Ackland threw the final two innings in relief, allowing just one hit with a pair of strikeouts.
San Diego State now faces a four-game series with the University of San Diego beginning Thursday, March 5 at 2:00 p.m. at USD's Cunningham Stadium. The Aztecs will host games on Friday (6:00 p.m.) and Sunday (1:00 p.m.) with Saturday's contest (1:00 p.m.) at the Toreros' home field.