Cold Doesn’t Shake Titan Pitcher : Fullerton’s Beck Slows Down Irvine in PCAA Opener

On a windy Friday evening that had spectators huddled by twos and threes under blankets, Cal State Fullerton pitcher Dion Beck disdained an undershirt and scattered 10 hits to help beat UC Irvine, 10-3, at Anteater Stadium.

The win, in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. baseball opener, improved Beck’s season record to 3-3.

Some may have been amazed by his ability to withstand the elements, but Beck didn’t think much of it.

“You think this is cold? Have you ever been to Alaska?” asked Beck, who has. “I pitched there over the summer. Now that’s cold.”

Using a variety of pitches that ranged from slow to slower, Beck induced Anteater batters to hit 14 fly ball outs. He also struck out six.

“I throw a lot of off-speed pitches. I don’t have to worry about throwing my arm out during a game since I don’t throw a hard fastball,” Beck said. “Endurance really isn’t a problem for me.”

Beck did appear to tire in the bottom of the ninth when he allowed a run on two hits and a walk. But he finished well, striking out UCI shortstop Adam Ging and first baseman Bob Perry. Irvine’s record slipped to 8-8-1.

“I tried to be a little too fine,” Beck said. “After I saw what happened I decided to put the ball over the plate and that worked.”

For Fullerton Coach Augie Garrido, the method wasn’t important, just the result.

“Our pitching staff was tired and we asked Dion to give us nine innings,” said Garrido, whose team improved to 9-8-1 overall. “A lot of times when you make that request of a young pitcher, they get so worked up they throw themselves out in the first inning. I thought he did a great job of pacing himself and capitalizing on the runs we scored early for him.

The Titans had their first run (when Keith Watkins scored on a long single by first baseman Kevin Reimer, who was 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs. The next batter, right fielder Alan Stankiewicz (2-4, 1 RBI), knocked in shortstop Shane Turner (3 for 3) by grounding out to first base.

In the second, Fullerton added two runs when left fielder Jef Garcia (2-5) singled, advanced to second base on a wild pitch by Irvine starting pitcher Doug Linton, to third on a bunt single by catcher Rich Slominski (3-4) and scored on a passed ball. Slominski later scored on a single by Turner.

Garcia’s odyssey around the bases was indicative of Fullerton’s offense. Though they had 16 hits, the Titans had only one extra-base hit, an eighth-inning double by third baseman John Fishel.

“We did a lot of the little things to win,” Garrido said. “I wished we could have done some of the big things, like getting doubles and triples with the bases loaded. But for today, we produced enough by taking advantage of whatever was thrown our way.”

Leading 5-1 in the top of the sixth inning, Fullerton again took advantage of Anteater mistakes. Watkins walked to lead off the inning and eventually scored on another passed ball by catcher Steve Morgan. After lining a single to right, Turner scored when Perry, the first baseman, threw high and wide to home plate after picking up a grounder by Reimer. Irvine Coach Mike Gerakos went through four pitchers in the game. Linton allowed five runs, all earned, on 11 hits. Linton (2-1) struck out four and walked one.