Fullerton Hangs On to Defeat Miami, 7-5 : College baseball: Titans must beat Hurricanes again on Friday to advance to championship game of the College World Series.

Cal State Fullerton’s game in the College World Series against Miami on Wednesday was like a leisurely drive through the country that suddenly turns into a high-speed chase.

“We built an early seven-run lead, which was a pleasant surprise, put our seat belts on and rode it out the rest of the way,” Augie Garrido, Fullerton’s coach, said.

The Titans almost needed an air bag.

As it turned out, a five-run first inning and two-run second provided a big enough cushion for Fullerton, which held on for a 7-5 victory over the top-ranked and top-seeded Hurricanes (55-9) before 12,970 in Rosenblatt Stadium.

But the Titans (45-16) had to survive many tense moments before advancing to Friday’s elimination game against the Hurricanes, the winner gaining a berth in Saturday’s national championship game.

After Steve Sisco and Nate Rodriquez highlighted the first inning with two-run singles and Phil Nevin’s two-run homer in the second made it 7-0, the Titans were able to laugh when Miami’s Kevin DiGiacomo blasted a Dan Naulty pitch over the left-field bleachers for a solo homer in the sixth--the second time in the series that has happened to the senior right-hander.

And there was no need to panic when Donald Robinson lined a Naulty pitch over the right-field fence for a homer that made it 7-2 in the seventh.

But when Titan bullpen ace Chad Dembisky, who had allowed only one earned run in the last 25 1/3 innings, gave up three in the eighth and saw the tying runs on first and third with two outs, it was time to get concerned.

Dembisky ran a full count on Miami’s Greg Coleman, an Anaheim Servite High School graduate who played at Fullerton in 1989, before getting him to hit an inside pitch slowly to Nevin at third. Nevin turned it into an out to preserve the 7-5 lead.

James Popoff, the team’s top starter who had strolled to the bullpen in the sixth inning to get a little work in preparation for Friday’s game, was suddenly brought in to save the game.

Popoff started the ninth and got No. 3 hitter Johnathen Smith to ground to Nevin at third. Charles Johnson lofted a popup into short right field that bounced off the heel of second baseman Sisco’s glove and fell for what was generously ruled a hit.

But Popoff got DiGiacomo to pop out to second and Frank Mora to ground out to third to end the game.

“The game’s kind of boring when you’re up by seven, and we’re an exciting team, so it was up to me to put some excitement back into it,” Dembisky said. “I didn’t make bad pitches out there, but the balls dropped in. I just thank God for James.”

Titan coaches could say the same for Nevin, the No. 1 pick in Monday’s amateur baseball draft. The Houston Astro selection now has seven hits in 11 series at-bats (.636) with two home runs, nine runs batted in and seven walks in four games.

“We tried a little magic at the end,” Miami Coach Ron Fraser said. “But it’s tough to come back when you’re seven down.”