College Baseball : Mellano Has Key Hit as Cal State Fullerton Sweeps Pair

A pinch-hit grand slam by Bob Mellano in the first game and a three-run first inning in the second game enabled Cal State Fullerton to sweep a nonconference doubleheader Tuesday from United States International University at Titan Field.

Fullerton (28-14) scored five runs in the fifth inning of the opener, keyed by Mellano’s second homer of the season, and won, 6-2. Pat Garman scored the fifth run of the inning and singled in the final run in the sixth. Titan pitcher Mike Belanger (5-2) had a no-hitter for five innings.

The Titans won the second game, 3-1. John Eccles drove in two runs with a double in the first and scored when Alan Stankiewicz’s grounder went through the legs of second baseman Ted Rivenbark for an error.

USIU (20-25) scored in the third off starter Paul Johnson. Rivenbark singled, stole second, went to third on a deep fly to left and came home on John Ronis’ infield hit. The Gulls loaded the bases in the seventh with one out but Gary Buckels came in and got Tom Bailey to hit into a double play.

In other PCAA action:

UC Irvine 7, University of San Diego 6--The Anteaters (14-18-2) scored twice in the bottom of the ninth at Irvine for the nonconference victory. Mike Fay’s pinch-hit triple scored pinch-runner Ed Rivero with the tying run and Doug Kline hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Fay with the winning run. Irvine’s Tom Baine went 3 for 3 with a double and two RBIs to raise his batting average to .426. Bo Kent pitched the final 4 innings to pick up his sixth win in 10 decisions. The Toreros are 20-19-2.

In California Collegiate Athletic Assn. action:

Chapman 7, Cal State Northridge 4--The Panthers trailed, 3-0, but rallied as Tony Gardea and Brian Flatten combined for five RBIs at Hart Park in Orange. Ivan Camacho drove in the winning run with a sixth-inning single, capping a three-run rally. Rob Glisson got the victory, allowing six hits. The teams play again today in a 2:30 game at Hart Park.

In NAIA District 3 action:

Southern California College 3, Pt. Loma 1--Brian Otten pitched a complete game and gave up only six hits for the Vanguards. SCC (7-5, 24-13) scored in the first inning. Pt. Loma is 4-7 and 11-19-1.

In South Coast Conference community college action:

Orange Coast College 7, Compton 3--Freshman left fielder Joey James hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning for the Pirates (14-0, 25-4). The home run was James’ 14th of the season which ties the OCC single-season mark set by Gene Roumimper last season. The three RBIs give James 69 for the season, an OCC single-season record. Roumimper had 68 last season. The win was the 19th straight for the first-place Pirates, and their 14th straight in the conference. Mark Rassmussen was 2 for 4 for OCC. Jay Makemson (2-0), worked into the ninth inning for the win. Compton is 0-14, 0-17.

Rancho Santiago 7, Cypress 3--Sophomore Mike Schwabe (6-1) gave up 10 hits but was helped by two double plays as the Dons (10-4, 20-6) remained in second place, four games behind Orange Coast. Ruben Gonzalez hit a two-run home run in the first inning. He also doubled in the second, walked with the bases loaded in the sixth and singled in the seventh for Rancho Santiago. The Dons broke a 3-3 tie with three runs in the top of the sixth off loser Jeff Mooney. Jim Jackle had two hits and two RBIs for Cypress (8-6, 22-9) but grounded into a double play to end the game.