Titans Avoid Disaster and Stay Unbeaten : College baseball: TCU scores only one run during troublesome fifth inning, and Fullerton wins, 4-1, to get leg up in regional.

An inning that could have been a nightmare for Cal State Fullerton turned into a happy dream Saturday night in the NCAA Midwest I regional baseball tournament.

The seventh-ranked Titans and pitcher Mike Parisi escaped a potentially devastating fifth inning, giving up only one run, and went on to a 4-1 victory over Texas Christian. That left Fullerton as the only unbeaten team in the regional after Memphis State upended host and top-seeded Oklahoma State, 12-4, earlier in the day.

Fullerton (43-13) will play at 6 p.m. (PDT) today against the team that survives an earlier elimination game between Oklahoma State (47-16) and Texas Christian (38-21). Today’s other elimination game will send Memphis State (51-10) against Northwestern State of Louisiana (45-14). The final round is Monday.

“That was a real key for us when we came out of the fifth the way we did,” Fullerton Coach Augie Garrido said. “That had the makings of a real bad inning for us.”

Parisi gave up a leadoff triple to Jason McClure and walked Brad Wallace. At that point, Titan catcher Bret Hemphill tried to pick McClure off third, but his throw went over Jason Gill’s head into left field. An alert Mark Kotsay jumped on the ball, however, and threw out McClure at the plate.

Shawn Stanek doubled home Wallace, and a throwing error by Parisi loaded the bases. But the Titans escaped with a double play to end the inning.

“Even after the pickoff play didn’t go our way, we still had a chance to come back and break it open, but we didn’t do it,” TCU Coach Lance Brown said. “It was that kind of game. Everything we hit hard went right at them. It was a good baseball game, but it was just one we didn’t win.”

Garrido felt Parisi turned in a good effort in some high-pressure situations. He gave up six hits over 7 2/3 innings, and Ted Silva came on in relief for his 13th save.

“Mike’s pitching was critical to our success,” Garrido said. “And he had some good help from our coaches in positioning our defensive players. They were where they needed to be on some well-hit balls.”

Parisi got out of some tight situations well before the fifth.

The Horned Frogs threatened without scoring in the second and third. An error by first baseman Adam Millan and a hit by Beto Garza-Gongora gave TCU two base runners in the second, but both were stranded when Parisi got the third out on a fly ball to center. A walk and a hit by Shannon Coulter gave TCU two more runners in the third, but the first of the two timely double plays took Parisi out of the inning without a run.

The Titans, meanwhile, picked up one run in the third. Jeremy Giambi doubled down the left-field line to open the inning, and Gill was safe on a well-placed bunt. Jack Jones’ sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third, and Giambi came home on Dante Powell’s sacrifice fly.

Fullerton added another run in the fourth. Hemphill doubled with one out and scored when the TCU third baseman, Kerby Smith, bounced the throw to first on Millan’s ground ball. That was one of a series of costly errors by the Horned Frogs, who had five.

The Titans came back for two more runs in the fifth. Jones opened the inning with his third home run. Powell followed with a single, stole second, advanced on an infield out and came home on Jeff Ferguson’s sacrifice fly to make it 4-1.

The victory, paired with Oklahoma State’s loss, left Fullerton in the driver’s seat, but Garrido remained cautious. “The only thing you can count on in tournament play is that there will be some surprises,” he said. “This tournament is a long way from being over. I’ve seen these tournaments won from every possible position.”

Garrido says he will make the decision on tonight’s starting pitcher when the opponent is determined and he has discussed it with George Horton, the associate head coach who handles the pitchers. The Titans have Big West Conference pitcher of the year, right-hander Matt Wagner (12-1) rested and ready along with left-hander Chad Rolish (7-4).

Oklahoma State continued its tendency to have problems with left-handers against Memphis State. The Cowboys are 14-9 against left-handed pitching compared to 32-7 against right-handed starters.

Memphis State beat Oklahoma State with left-hander Collins Day (12-0), who threw a nine-hitter.

The Tigers, who had lost to Texas Christian on Friday, broke open a 2-2 game with nine runs in the seventh. The Tigers had tied it on a two-run homer in the sixth by Mark Little, then went into high gear with eight hits in the next inning. Greg Dean was chased and fell to 11-3.

Northwestern State, an 11-3 loser to Fullerton in the first round, kept its hopes alive with an 8-2 victory over Illinois State. Northwestern State (45-14) had eight hits and capitalized on six Illinois State errors. Illinois State ended its season at 30-29. Starter Reggie Gatewood (11-3) pitched a six-hitter.

Titan Notes

George Horton, Cal State Fullerton associate head coach, was inducted into the junior college baseball Hall of Fame last week. Horton was honored for his coaching tenure at Cerritos College. He compiled a 226-53 record at Cerritos, and his teams won the State championship in 1985, 1987 and 1989. He was selected national junior college coach of the year in each of those seasons.