COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Undefeated Pitchers Don’t Impress Titans

Bring on those 9-0 pitchers.

For the second time in three weeks, Cal State Fullerton dealt a top Big West Conference pitcher his first loss of the season, defeating Cal State Long Beach, 6-3, Friday at 49er Field.

Long Beach’s Todd Taylor entered the game 9-0, just as Fresno State’s Jim Patterson before he faced Fullerton early this month. But both left with 9-1 records.

The victory moved Fullerton (31-12, 12-4), ranked No. 11 in the nation, into a second-place conference tie with 10th-ranked Long Beach (25-15-1, 12-4) with eight Big West games remaining. Both teams, which face each other again today and Sunday, trail Fresno (32-13, 13-3) by a game.

Fullerton’s Jim Popoff (9-1), replacing scheduled starter Dan Naulty, who was ill, gave up nine hits and was supported by an error-free defense.

Long Beach hurt itself with five errors in the fifth--Taylor made three while throwing during consecutive sacrifice bunts--as the Titans increased a 3-1 lead to 6-1 by the time Steve Sisco scored on Phil Nevin’s single to center.

In the Big West Conference men’s tennis championships:

Irvine Tied for First--UC Irvine won all nine of its matches on the opening day of the tournament at Ojai, but it was only good enough to put the Anteaters into a 36-36 tie with UC Santa Barbara.

Brett Hansen-Dent, seeded fifth, upset No. 4 Pat Boies of Nevada Las Vegas, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 1.

In the Big West Conference women’s tennis championships:

Alva Wins Again--Fullerton’s Roseann Alva scored her second upset in as many days, defeating Tracee Lee of Pacific, 7-5, 6-4, to reach the finals in No. 1 singles.

Alva, who defeated third-seeded Ali Yoshimoto of UC Irvine Thursday, will face No. 1 Debbie Goldberger of UC Santa Barbara in today’s final. Goldberger is an Edison graduate.

The Anteaters are fourth with 30 points. Fullerton has 11. Defending champion Santa Barbara leads with 40.

In Big West softball:

Utah State 2-2, Cal State Fullerton 0-3 (second game, 8 innings)--Tiffany Boyd hit a two-run homer in the seventh of the second game to tie it, 2-2, and No. 6 Fullerton (34-17, 16-10) added another run in the eighth to earn a split.

At the Penn Relays:

UC Irvine Third--The Anteaters’ distance medley team of Clay Biddle, Dustin James, Sean O’Leary and Kevin Harris took eighth overall and third in the college division with a time of 9:46.67.