Justin Garza leads Cal State Fullerton past Arizona State, 1-0

Just one year ago, Cal State Fullerton right-hander Justin Garza was busy finishing his senior year at Bonita High in La Verne by winning a Southern Section Division 3 title.

From CIF to NCAA tournament in a matter of months, Garza made it look like high school all over again, going 8 1/3 innings with nine strikeouts in a 1-0 victory over nationally ranked Arizona State on Saturday night at Goodwin Field in Fullerton. The victory has the Titans (50-8) one win away from an NCAA super regional, a date they can set with a victory Sunday night.

“I wanted to get ahead early with my fastball,” Garza said. “Usually the changeup is my go-to pitch and I ran with it. Every game is the same to me.”

Selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 26th round of the 2012 MLB amateur draft, the 5-foot-11, 160-pound righty blew away opposing hitters with a mid-90s fastball and set the Cal State Fullerton freshman record for wins with 12. Closer Michael Lorenzen, projected to be a second-round draft pick and the team’s starting center fielder, picked up his 19th save of the season.

Garza’s 11-0 record, 2.08 earned-run average and 80 strikeouts in 99 2/3 innings in the regular season gave the Titans their second consecutive Big West pitcher of the year after Dylan Floro — selected in the 13th round of last year’s draft by Tampa Bay — brought the award back to Goodwin Field in 2012.

Not to be outdone, the Sun Devils (36-21-1) sent a freshman phenom of their own to the hill, Canadian-born Ryan Kellogg. The 6-foot-5 left-hander came into the night with an 11-0 record to match his counterpart. He went 6 1/3 innings, giving up the run and matching Garza nearly every step of the way.

Nearly.

Garza at one point retired 10 consecutive batters until Dalton DiNatale’s leadoff single in the eighth inning. When DiNatale reached third with two outs, Garza struck out third baseman Michael Benjamin, the team leader in batting average, on three pitches to preserve the 1-0 lead.

The Titans got that run in the bottom of the seventh when second baseman Jake Jefferies led off the inning with a double. Jefferies advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly from shortstop Richy Pedroza.

That was all the cushion the Titans and Garza would need.

“We never got anything going against him,” Arizona State Coach Tim Esmay said. “He’s got a really good arm. He’s not only just throwing it, he’s spotting it up. ... It’s a game of adjustments and he didn’t allow us to.”

The Titans’ win broke the Sun Devils’ streak of 16 straight wins in NCAA regional play, a stretch that dated to 2006.

“We broke through before them,” Titans Coach Rick Vanderhook said. “I thought Justin was amazing.”

The early contest, an elimination game between Columbia and New Mexico, pushed back Garza’s start by nearly two hours when Columbia came up with a 6-5 win in 13 innings.

Second baseman Nick Crucet drove home the game-winning run on a single into right with two outs in the top of the 13th inning to lead Columbia to its first win in the NCAA tournament in school history.

New Mexico came into the elimination game leading the NCAA with a team batting average of .326 and added 12 hits through seven innings.

But down 5-0 and five outs from elimination, Columbia rallied in the top of the eighth behind a two-run home run from first baseman Alex Black, sparking a five-run rally to tie the score. Crucet kept the rally going by driving in two with a single before catcher Mike Fischer singled home the tying run.

New Mexico pitcher Sam Wolff tied a career high with seven strikeouts, but the Lobos’ bullpen couldn’t keep the five-run lead when it looked like New Mexico was going to cruise into a Sunday matchup against the loser of the Fullerton-Arizona State nightcap.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth inning and the winning run at second, Columbia right-hander Joey Donino intentionally walked New Mexico left fielder Luke Campbell and induced an inning-ending double play to send the game to extra innings.

Donino earned the win by shutting out New Mexico with 6 2/3 innings of relief.

“It’s over and it hurts,” New Mexico Coach Ray Birmingham said. “That’s it.”

Columbia will take on Arizona State in an elimination game at 4 p.m. Sunday, with the winner facing Fullerton at 8 p.m. If the Titans win, they will advance to a super regional next weekend against the winner of the UCLA regional, while a loss will force a do-or-die rematch at 8 p.m. Monday. Fullerton will send Big West freshman pitcher of the year Thomas Eshelman (11-2, 1.63 ERA) to the hill Sunday.

andrew.gastelum@latimes.com

Twitter: @andrewgastelum