Orange County College Baseball : Santa Barbara Edges Fullerton in 10th, 14-13

This was hardly the kind of game that UC Santa Barbara was looking for.

Saturday afternoon, the Gauchos would have preferred to wander through a low-keyed game while reminiscing about the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. baseball title they had clinched the night before on Titan Field.

Instead of a quiet little game, Santa Barbara and Fullerton combined for 27 runs, 35 hits, five home runs, four errors and a 20-minute argument in the bottom of the 10th inning before the Gauchos finally defeated Cal State Fullerton, 14-13, in just more than four hours.

The Gauchos opened a four-run lead in the first inning on a two-run home run by Mark Leonard and a two-run single by Greg Vella, only to lose it by the bottom of the second. Three hours later, Santa Barbara led, 12-8, going into the ninth.

The Titans (12-8, 36-20) came back to score four runs to tie and had a chance to win, but pinch-hitter Andy Mota grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.

In the 10th, Santa Barbara (17-3, 43-17) appeared to have shaken Fullerton when senior left fielder Leonard hit a two-run home run, his second of the game and ninth of the season, off losing pitcher Dave Serrano (3-4).

But Fullerton pinch-hitter Tony Trevino grounded a Lee Carballo pitch down the first-base line and into the right-field corner. The first-base umpire ruled that the ball was foul while the home-plate umpire signaled fair.

Trevino kept running as the Santa Barbara right fielder Brian Bello jogged after the ball, thinking it was foul. Bello became aware that the ball might be fair and hurried a relay throw to first baseman Greg Vella as Trevino slid into third. The throw was wild and Trevino scored.

For the next 20 minutes the field looked more like a scene from an episode of “Perry Mason” than a baseball game.

First the umpires gathered to corroborate on the call. Although no verbal decision was given, Gaucho Coach Al Ferrer rushed to plead his case for either a foul ball or just a double.

Fullerton Coach Augie Garrido was next to confront the umpires with his version of the case.

Each coach had a chance to appeal the decision, then the umpires ruled that the run counted, cutting the Gaucho lead to 14-13 and prompting Ferrer to protest the game.

But the protest was dropped automatically once the last of five Santa Barbara pitchers, Mike Myers, retired the final three Fullerton batters for the save. The win went to Carballo (4-3), even though he gave up three earned runs in one-plus innings.

“When you play a program like Fullerton, there is a lot of pride involved,” Ferrer said. “Right after arguing my point, I could have put on the Fullerton uniform and argued their point. I’m glad it turned out not to matter.”

Fullerton left fielder Ken Garcia hit a pair of solo home runs, his sixth and seventh, and catcher John Eccles added a two-run home run in the first. The senior has 13 home runs and 79 RBIs this season.

The loss dimmed the Titans’ hopes for an at-large bid in the NCAA Western Regional playoffs, but they get one more shot at UC Santa Barbara.

The teams conclude the regular season today in a 1 p.m. game at Titan Field.

UC Irvine 5, Fresno State 2--The Anteaters (9-11, 20-25-2) took an early lead on Gene Roumimper’s two-run home run in the first at Fresno. Roumimper extended his hitting streak to 14 games and moved to within one home run of the school season record of nine held by four players.