College Baseball : Staton’s Slam Keys Titans’ 7-4 Victory

Dave Staton had two hits, including a grand slam, as Cal State Fullerton defeated Cal State Long Beach, 7-4, Sunday in a Big West Conference baseball game at Fullerton.

The Titans (30-23 overall, 10-8 in conference), who lost the two previous nights to the 49ers, fell behind, 3-0, in the top of the first ining. But Fullerton rallied in the third, as Staton’s grand slam helped give the Titans a 5-3 lead.

Staton also had an RBI double in the game. Brent Mayne had two hits for Fullerton.

Chris Robinson pitched four innings in relief for the victory. He replaced starter Danny DeVille in the second inning with no outs and a runner on first. Robinson (6-4) allowed only one run.

James Popoff pitched the final three innings for his second save.

Terry Sanchez had three hits, including a pair of doubles, and two RBIs for Long Beach (43-12, 15-3), which is ranked ninth in the nation by Baseball America.

In other Big West Conference action:

UC Santa Barbara 6, UC Irvine 5--Jeff Antoon beat the Anteaters with a home run for the second consecutive day. Antoon hit a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give Santa Barbara (28-24-1, 8-10) the victory. On Saturday, Antoon hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 12th to give the Gauchos a 5-4 victory.

Sunday, Irvine (17-35-1, 3-15) led, 5-2, entering the ninth. However, starting pitcher Rob Johnson walked Dave Waco and Gerald Rountree with one out. After an error scored Waco and moved Rountree to third, Johnson was replaced by Zack Krislock. Mike Czarnetzki then reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring Rountree, and Antoon followed with his home run. It was his ninth of the season. Brian Young had two hits, including a solo home run, for Irvine. The Anteaters’ Stacy Parker stole his 27th base of the season to break Rocky Craig’s school record of 26 set in 1970.