Ricabal Helps Titans Rebound to Beat Nevada

Good pitching finally beat good hitting Sunday as Cal State Fullerton bounced back from the frustration of two consecutive losses to Nevada to win the third game of an important Big West Conference baseball series.

Nevada’s strong hitting overwhelmed the Titans in the first two games of the series, which matched the two teams with the best conference won-loss records.

But Sunday, Titan right-hander Dan Ricabal was in top form. Ricabal gave up only three hits, the defense performed superbly and the Titan batters came alive in a combined effort that produced an 8-0 victory.

The series left Nevada in first place in the conference by percentage points. Nevada is 11-4 in the conference; Fullerton is 12-5 and Long Beach State (10-5) is third.

Fullerton, which came into the series as the nation’s top-ranked team, climbs back to 35-10 overall. Nevada is 34-8. The loss snapped the Wolf Pack’s 14-game winning streak.

“This was an extremely important game for us to win after what happened on Friday and Saturday,” Titan Coach Augie Garrido said. “It makes a difference of two games in the standings. This was a survival game for us.”

It was a good thing for the Titans they had a survivor on the mound. Ricabal, who had struggled and lost his starting spot earlier in the season, came up with his second consecutive complete-game shutout as a starter. Ricabal had given up only five hits in his last start and only eight hits in his last 18 1/3 innings pitched. He is 6-0.

“I felt really good, physically and mentally ready for this game,” said Ricabal, who struck out eight and walked none. “I knew this was a big game for us after they came in here and took the first two from us.”

The Wolf Pack never seriously threatened Sunday after getting 22 hits in the first two games of the series.

The Titan offense wasted no time getting untracked. It pushed across its first run in the second inning. D.C. Olsen opened with an infield hit. He advanced on Bret Hemphill’s sacrifice bunt and scored when Jim Betzsold doubled to left center.

Nevada starting pitcher Kevin Lake got out of the inning without further damage, however, when Betzsold was caught in a rundown between second and third on Tony Miranda’s bouncer back to the mound. Jack Jones struck out to end the inning.

Fullerton also threatened with two outs in the third. Jeff Ferguson reached base on an error and moved to third on a double by designated hitter Adam Millan. The inning ended on Olsen’s fly ball to center.

Fullerton finally got rolling early in an inning, scoring three runs in the sixth. Olsen led off with a triple off the the top of the wall in left center. The next batter, Hemphill, singled up the middle, driving in Olsen. After a sacrifice bunt advanced Hemphill, he came home on Miranda’s single. Miranda eventually scored on Dante Powell’s base hit to right.

The Titans added two runs in the seventh on pinch-hitter Mark Kotsay’s bloop single to center. Two walks had put the Wolf Pack in trouble early in the inning. The final two runs came in the eighth, when Powell scored on an infield out and Craig Skyberg came home on Olsen’s sacrifice fly.