College World Series : CS Fullerton Gets a Hand From Stanford, 5-3

Pitching and defense were the keys in Cal State Fullerton’s victory over Stanford in the College World Series Monday, but in a bit of an unorthodox way.

It was Fullerton’s pitching. Mark Beck tossed a four-hitter, striking out 13.

And it was Stanford’s awful defense. The defending champion Cardinal committed six errors--four of them in the sixth inning--and lost to the Titans, 5-3, before a crowd of 12,295 at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Fullerton (43-16), which won its seventh straight, will not play again until Thursday, when it will meet the winner of today’s elimination game between Stanford and Miami (Fla.).

The Titans trailed, 3-2, after five innings but scored three runs in the sixth on one single and four errors, three of them by Ed Sprague, the Stanford third baseman whose 400-foot-plus three-run homer in the third had given Stanford a 3-2 lead.

“Making those errors hurt,” Stanford Coach Mark Marquess said. “That hasn’t happened to us all year, but unfortunately it happened here.”

With one out, Shane Flores got the only Fullerton hit of the inning, a single.

With Flores on first, Brent Mayne hit a potential double-play ball toward shortstop Troy Paulsen, who bobbled it for an error.

Sprague committed his first error on the next play, mishandling a grounder by Mike Ross and allowing Fullerton to load the bases.

With that scenario, Keith Kaub--who has hit four home runs in six postseason games--came to the plate and drove a ball to deepest left-center.

It looked like a grand slam, but it was caught above the wall by Brian Johnson, the Stanford left fielder who also was the starting quarterback for the Cardinal for the final seven games last season.

Kaub had to settle for a sacrifice fly.

But Sprague then misplayed another ball, this one off the bat of Jim Osborn, allowing Mayne and Ross to score.

That was the end of the scoring, but Sprague had one error more, an errant throw that allowed Ralph Ramirez to reach first. Stanford got out of the inning, though, when a first-to-home throw caught Osborn on the same play.

Stanford (42-23) would never recover.

“I didn’t have time to relax after the first error,” Sprague said. “I got two more hit to me, and the next thing I know it is 5-3. There were no bad hops. They just kept hitting it to me, and I kept kicking it. I wanted them to hit it to me again so I could redeem myself, but that didn’t happen. Errors are going to happen. You need to be able to bounce back from them.”

But Fullerton didn’t give Stanford a chance to get back in the game.

Beck (10-4), working the outside corner, walked 3 and struck out 13, two short of his career high.

“He’s a power pitcher, and he was in total control tonight, except for that one slider he hung to Sprague,” Titan Coach Larry Cochell said.

Mayne, the Fullerton catcher, called the game one of Beck’s top three.

“He was getting the fastball in a little better than he ever has, and we were hitting the corners.”

Mike Mussina (9-4), the Stanford starter, allowed two earned runs on six hits in 7 innings.

But he couldn’t overcome Stanford’s errors, taking the loss.

Miami 8, Fresno State 4--The Hurricanes scored four runs in the top of the 12th inning to eliminate the Bulldogs.

Miami (52-13-1) loaded the bases on a single, an infield bunt and a walk. Rey Noriega scored the winning run on a wild pitch by John Salles, the losing pitcher.

Salles, who entered the Series with a 15-0 record, took his second loss of the series, giving up four hits and three earned runs in two-thirds of an inning of relief.

Greg Knowles (9-2) earned the victory, allowing one run in 7 innings of relief.

Fresno State finished at 56-12.