Orange County College Baseball : Victory Over Fullerton Is Pacific’s First in 17 Tries

Cal State Fullerton, which has already clinched the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. baseball title, was upset, 4-3, by Pacific Sunday at Titan Field. It was the first victory over Fullerton in 17 tries for Pacific (7-14, 19-34).

Fullerton (18-3, 41-15), ranked fourth in the nation by Baseball America, is awaiting an NCAA regional assignment.

Deryk Gross singled in a run in the sixth inning, giving Pacific a 2-1 lead. Beau Hill hit a two-out double in the seventh, driving in two unearned runs and giving the Tigers a 4-1 lead. Fullerton’s Ken Garcia hit a solo home run in the seventh, and Mike Ross hit his 11th home run of the season in the ninth, but the Titans got no closer.

Freshman Jim Yanko (5-7) pitched an eight-hitter for the Tigers. Starter Longo Garcia (10-3) took the loss for Fullerton.

The Titans hope to schedule one more game next weekend as a tuneup for the playoffs, which begin May 21.

In other PCAA baseball:

UC Irvine 5, San Jose State 1--UCI clinched second place in the PCAA with the victory at Anteater Field.

The victory, a season-high sixth straight, completed a three-game sweep of the Spartans (8-13, 31-28), who lost their final seven games.

UCI (13-8, 27-26-1) finished the regular season with its most victories since 1982. The second-place conference finish is the highest in the seven years Coach Mike Gerakos has been at the school.

The Anteaters are hoping to gain an at-large berth when the NCAA tournament field is announced.

UCI’s Jeff Haack (4-5) scattered seven hits and pitched a shutout through eight innings. Mike Haruff singled in Monty Brooks, who had doubled, to score the only Spartan run. Haack walked four and struck out two in earning his second complete-game victory.

Losing pitcher Anthony Telford, who entered the game as the national strikeout leader, struck out 14, finishing the season with 161.

UCI was led by senior Mike Sugar, who was 2 for 4 with a double and a run batted in, and Chris Gallego, who was 2 for 4 with two doubles and an RBI.