COLLEGE BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Titans Mark Garrido’s Return With Easy Victory Over Pomona

Before Tuesday’s season-opener, Cal State Fullerton baseball Coach Augie Garrido talked about the slow development of his team.

He said the Titans were struggling with a lot of things. He joked that they had gone back to the basics--working on things such as getting dressed and taking the field.

But Fullerton looked fairly polished while beating Cal Poly Pomona, 7-2, at Duane Winters Field in Amerige Park in Fullerton.

The victory marked Garrido’s return to the program he took to the forefront of college baseball. Garrido had a 667-425-7 record and won two national titles at Fullerton from 1973-87. He coached at Illinois three years before returning.

Fullerton starter Bill Fitzgerald allowed one hit in the first six innings to earn the victory. He retired eight of the first nine batters. The only hit was a double by Shannon Wright to open the fourth inning. He then retired nine of the final 10 batters.

Fitzgerald, a sophomore right-hander from Katella High School, struck out four and walked two.

“Fitzgerald set the pace,” Garrido said. “But I thought (Matt) Hattabaugh caught an outstanding game.”

Fullerton also got outstanding production from the middle of the lineup, especially from Phil Nevin, who hit third.

Nevin, a sophomore who has moved from third to shortstop, was four for five, with one run batted in and a run scored.

He singled in the first inning, but was caught stealing. Then in the four-run third, he doubled off the right-field fence.

David Ayala walked with one out and went to third on Nevin’s double. Ayala scored on Hattabaugh’s line-drive single to left. Steve Sisco’s single scored Nevin. Craig Fairbrother capped the inning with a two-run double to right field.

Fullerton took a 2-0 lead in the second when Frank Charles’ double scored Hattabaugh and Sisco, who had singled to open the inning.

Fullerton’s final run came in the sixth. Ayala reached base on a throwing error and Nevin followed with a triple off the fence in center field, 400 feet away.

“What was most pleasing to me,” Garrido said, “was not only that Phil (Nevin) had a great day but that the people behind him sustained the effort.”

Pomona (1-2) scored two runs off Jack Bailey, who replaced Fitzgerald in the seventh. He worked a scoreless eighth and Chris Robinson retired Pomona in order in the ninth.

In another nonconference game:

Loyola Marymount 11, UC Irvine 1--Loyola scored three runs in the first inning and five in the fourth to take an 8-0 lead at home. Mark Tillman was three for four with two runs scored and Gerrado Perez was two for four with two RBIs for the Lions (2-1).

Irvine (0-1) scored in the sixth inning when Billy Bardens singled home Neil Weingarten, who opened the inning with a double.