Orange County College Baseball : Harkey Just Misses a No-Hitter in Fullerton Win

Mike Harkey, a junior right-hander, came within two outs of throwing Cal State Fullerton’s second straight no-hitter as the Titans beat Cal State Long Beach, 9-0, in a Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. game Saturday at Titan Field. It was Fullerton’s 11th straight victory over Long Beach.

Harkey (5-2), a consensus All-American from Diamond Bar, had his no-hit effort broken by 49er pinch-hitter Scott Lewis, who singled to left field with one out in the ninth. Harkey, who struck out 12, allowed one more hit in the ninth. Only one other 49er reached base, in the fourth inning.

Friday, Titan left-hander Longo Garcia recorded the first no-hitter of Fullerton Coach Augie Garrido’s 15-year tenure, beating Long Beach, 7-0, in a five-inning, rain-shortened game.

“I was disappointed I didn’t get it,” Harkey said of the no-hitter. “I thought about it the entire game. I know it’s the best I’ve thrown this year.”

“Harkey took control of the situation today,” Garrido said. “This is the best he’s looked since he’s been here.”

The Titans (4-1, 24-12) had 17 hits, including two two-run home runs. Junior second baseman Mike Ross hit the first homer in the fourth and senior catcher Mike Ham the other in the fifth.

Long Beach (1-4, 10-27-1) plays Fullerton today at 1 at Titan Field.

In other PCAA action:

UC Santa Barbara 11, UC Irvine 5--The Gauchos scored four runs in the seventh inning to break a 5-5 tie in a game at Goleta.

Santa Barbara (2-3, 17-14-2), which had 14 hits off four UCI pitchers, scored the four runs on an error, RBI singles by Doug Williams and Russ Ballati and an RBI double by Joe Kemp.

John Seeburger led UCI (3-2, 16-16-1) with two doubles. Sam Maatallah (2-2) took the loss in relief for the Anteaters.

In nonconference action:

Southern California 5-3, Master’s 4-15--Mike Lomeli’s single scored pinch-runner Kendall Kasper in the 11th for the Vanguards’ victory in the first game at SCC. Steve Overeem had two solo home runs for the Vanguards (12-20). In the second game, Master’s scored four runs in the first inning and five in the third.