College Baseball : Cal Infield Error Helps Fullerton Win in 12 Innings

A fielding error by preseason All-America third baseman Lance Blankenship of Cal allowed Cal State Fullerton’s Roger Zottneck to score in the top of the 12th inning for a 7-6 Titan victory at Berkeley Saturday.

The Bears (13-6) led by as much as 6-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Titans (8-7) scored two runs in the top of the seventh to trail 6-4. Cal never scored again as Titan relievers Doug Robertson and Mike Schooler prevented the Bears from getting another hit in the last 5 innings. Neither Fullerton reliever pitcher allowed a walk. Schooler (2-0) earned the win, and Andy Wortham (1-2), who pitched the last three innings for Cal, was the loser.

The Titans trailed in the ninth inning by a run. The game went into extra innings after another error on a Blankenship throw allowed the Titans’ lead-off batter, Jef Garcia, to advance to second. The tying run scored on John Eccles’ single. The Titans’ most productive hitters were Kevin Reimer, who went 3 for 4 including a double, and John Fishel, who was 2 for 6 including a two-run homer.

In other college baseball:

Pepperdine 6-5, UC Irvine 3-6--The Anteaters (7-7-1) salvaged a split at Pepperdine (6-3-1), by winning the second game on a two-run double in the sixth inning by Irvine outfielder Brady Anderson. Irvine had just five hits, but received the benefit of seven walks from five Wave pitchers.

Pepperdine pitchers walked four batters in the fourth inning, and the Anteaters responded with four runs to move to within a run at 5-4. Anderson then drove in Bob Perry and Mike Fay, both on-base with walks in the sixth.

In the opener, the Anteaters delivered most of their offense on Paul Hammond’s two-run home run in the first inning. The Waves put away the game by scoring six runs on four hits in the fourth. Two Pepperdine runners scored on Chris Johnson’s double and two more came in when Anteater shortstop Adam Ging committed a throwing error. Jack Love (1-0) was the winner and Brett Martin (2-1), who faced 9 of 10 Wave batters in the fourth inning, was the loser.