Titans Beat Las Vegas to Extend Lead

Cal State Fullerton, mired in its worst baseball season in 12 years, appeared to be on the verge of total collapse this week after suffering its first loss ever to Southern California College, an NAIA institution.

The Titans, struggling to stay above .500, seemingly have come to the conclusion that nonconference games are no longer important and they’re concentrating their efforts on Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. play.

It’s been said that you can’t turn it on and off at will, but the Titans may have found a path to the NCAA playoffs again. The defending national champions aren’t hovering around the top of the national rankings this season, but they tightened their stranglehold on the PCAA’s South Division with a sweep of second-place Nevada Las Vegas in a doubleheader at Titan Field on Saturday.

Fullerton won the first game, 4-2, as left-hander Dion Beck tantalized the free-swinging Rebels with an assortment of slow and slower curves and screwballs. He scattered six hits and went the distance to pick up his ninth victory, tops on the staff.

Rich Slominski, getting a rare start at first base in the seven-inning nightcap, hit two home runs and the Titans rallied for two in the sixth and one in the seventh to edge UNLV, 5-4, for the sweep.

The Rebels, who had won six of seven coming in, are five games behind Fullerton in the South Division with just 10 conference games remaining. The Titans (27-24-1) are 14-5 in the PCAA. Las Vegas dropped to 29-17 and 9-10.

“We don’t have that big, glamorous record to think about this year,” said Titan shortstop Shane Turner, who was 4 for 6 at the plate Saturday. “I guess that has something to do with way we’ve been playing against the weaker teams. But we have managed to put it together when it counts.”

Fullerton Coach Augie Garrido watched his team sweep a three-game PCAA series against Cal State Long Beach last weekend and then lose two nonconference games before rebounding Saturday.

“No matter what we say, it seems like the players have got this figured out,” Garrido said, shaking his head and managing a smile.

Garrido has been doing a little figuring, too. He feels reasonably confident with five pitchers--Beck, Mike Schooler, Mike Belanger, Mike Harkey and Doug Robertson--but he says there is a “big dropoff” after that. So Garrido’s been saving those five for PCAA action and letting the rest of the staff battle for the No. 6 spot--and take their lumps--during nonconference action.

Beck, who had great command of his pitches and was catching the corners all afternoon, helped Garrido stick with his game plan by going nine innings.

“That’s always my goal in the first game of a doubleheader,” Beck said. “You never know how many pitchers you might need in the second game. I really felt good today. I could put the ball pretty much where I wanted it.”

Beck gave up a run when UNLV’s Joe Barratt singled home Brian Whitaker, who opened the fifth inning with a double. His only other mistake was a fastball over the plate to shortstop Matt Williams, who deposited the ball in the parking lot behind the left-field fence in the seventh.

Fullerton ran itself out of a couple of big innings in the early going, but the Titans finally erupted for three in the sixth. UNLV right-hander John Stein (6-5), who went the distance, walked Alan Stankiewicz with the bases loaded and then gave up a bases-loaded double to Turner.

Fullerton got an insurance run in the seventh on Blaine Larker’s RBI single to left.

“Beck was the difference, though. He was really impressive,” Garrido said. “He pitched a very smart game.”

It looked as if Schooler might make everyone forget Beck’s performance, though. He didn’t allow a hit in the nightcap until Reed Peters ripped a line-drive homer to left in the fifth inning. It was one of the few balls the Rebels hit in the air off Schooler in the early going. He had 11 infield outs in the first five innings.

But the Rebels got to him in the sixth for three runs to take a 4-2 lead. An infield single and an intentional walk to slugger Mike Oglesbee came back to haunt Schooler when catcher Tim Arnold lined a shot to left that just cleared the fence.

The Titans had a chance to make the second game a rout. UNLV’s Rich Naylor got off to a shaky start when he walked the bases loaded with nobody out in the first inning. But he got out of it cheaply enough when Fullerton managed to push across just one run on designated hitter Kevin Reimer’s sacrifice fly into the wind, that would have been a grand slam on a calm day.

Slominski lifted a fly ball over the left-field fence for his fourth homer of the year in the fourth and his two-out, two-run shot in the sixth tied the game, 4-4.

Schooler struck out Williams and Oglesbee with two on in the top of the seventh and the Titans seemed to gain momentum.

Fullerton loaded the bases--on an infield single and two walks--with no one out in the bottom of the seventh and senior John Fishel drove in the winning run with a fly ball to center.