Aztecs Upended at Cal State Fullerton, 7-1

FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton broke open a tight game with a combined five runs in the seventh and eighth innings on Tuesday to key a 7-1 victory over visiting San Diego State at Goodwin Field.

In the first meeting between the two schools since 2020, the Titans maintained a 13-8 advantage in hits to help raise their record to 4-8 on the season, while the Aztecs dropped their fourth straight, falling to 4-9 overall.

Fullerton never trailed in the contest after Andrew Kirchner delivered a two-run single in the bottom of the first. Previously, Cam Burdick and Eli Lopez led off the frame with consecutive hits, advancing on Marco Rosales’ sacrifice bunt.

The score remained unchanged until the sixth when SDSU broke through with a single marker after CJ Moran raced home on Drew Rutter’s flair past the outstretched arms of Maddox Latta at shortstop.

With the lead cut in half, however, the Titans gave themselves some separation the seventh on Matthew Bardowell’s two-run single, which knocked in Kirchner and Latta, who kept the inning alive with a two-out single and double, respectively.

Fullerton then put the game out of reach with three tallies in the eighth on Burdick’s squeeze bunt, which plated Jason Schardt, while Kirchner followed with a two-run double. Earlier, Schardt led off the frame with a single and took third on Isaiah Gomez’s grounder that found its way through the right side.

On a staff day in which the Titans utilized seven pitchers, starter Jayden Harper (1-0) was credited with the victory after giving up just two hits without a walk in two scoreless innings, while Garvey Rumary (0-1) was saddled with the tough loss.

Making his second straight Tuesday evening start, Rumary tossed a career-long five innings, allowing Fullerton’s first two runs on three hits before yielding just two hits for the remainder of his stint while offsetting three walks with a trio of strikeouts.

After issuing a leadoff walk and hitting a batter in the second, Rumary retired nine of the next 10 hitters before Gomez’s double to start the fifth. Following Burdick’s sacrifice bunt and a walk to Rosales, the SDSU left-hander struck out Kirchner to extinguish the Titan threat.

However, Aztec relievers Chris Canavan (1.2 IP, 2 ER), Peyton Rodgers (0.1 IP, 2 ER) and Issac Araiza (1.0 IP, 1 ER) were unable to keep Fullerton in check over the final two frames.

Moran led the Scarlet and Black with three hits, matching Kirchner (4 RBIs) for game-high honors.

UP NEXT
San Diego State opens a lengthy homestand this weekend when it plays host to Northeastern in a four-game series, March 6-9, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.