COLLEGE BASEBALL / NCAA REGIONALS : Oklahoma State Tops Cal State Fullerton : Baseball: The 13-11 loss puts Titans up against Memphis State. Winner faces the Cowboys for Series berth.

Cal State Fullerton and Oklahoma State, two of college baseball’s heavyweights, battled for more than four hours in the NCAA regional playoffs Sunday night, trading potential knockout blows at every turn. And when this slugging match finally ended, the Cowboys had the biggest punch.

Designated-hitter Jake Benz delivered a three-run homer in the ninth to give Oklahoma State a 13-11 victory that climaxed the Cowboys’ stunning five-run rally.

The Cowboys (49-16) advance into tonight’s 5 p.m. (PDT) championship game against the winner of the Cal State Fullerton-Memphis State game, which starts at 11 a.m. (PDT).

“Right when I hit it, I knew it was gone,” Benz said of the dramatic home run.

Fullerton had gone into the ninth with an 11-8 lead before the Cowboys’ onslaught. The roof fell in on the Titans after reliever Chad Rolish gave up single to Rob Hernandez and Thad Chaddrick walked. Ted Silva came on to try to stop the uprising, but he failed. Pinch-hitter Carl Grinstead doubled to left, scoring two runs. Then pinch-hitter Scott Douma walked. Silva struck out Roberto Lopez but then Benz unloaded.

Fullerton Coach Augie Garrido called the Benz homer “a stunning blow.”

“It was a pretty impressive victory and an exciting college baseball game,” Garrido said. “It’s now a one-day tournament. We have the toughest job ahead of us to get ready based on that loss.”

It capped an stunning day for Benz, whose homer also lifted the Cowboys to a victory over Texas Christian earlier in the day.

The teams battered each other throughout the game as pitcher after pitcher fell by the wayside.

Titan starter Matt Wagner had trouble early, as did Cowboy starter Jason Bell.

A double play gave Wagner two outs in the second inning, but he promptly walked three consecutive batters to load the bases. K.T. Messick drove in two runs with a grounder up the middle. He appeared to be out of the inning when Lopez grounded sharply to Jeff Ferguson at second, but the ball skidded out of his glove, allowing two more runs to score. Wagner walked Benz before ending the inning with a strikeout.

Fullerton, which threatened with two base runners but failed to score in the first, bounced back with a six-run third inning. Dante Powell walked, stole second and went to third on Mark Kotsay’s single. Powell scored when the ball was mishandled in right field. Kotsay took third on the error and scored on a passed ball.

The Titans kept going. Ferguson walked, Bret Hemphill singled and Jeremy Giambi walked to load the bases. Then Millan drilled a three-run doubled off the wall in left center. The Titans scored their final run of the inning when Brian King singled to right, driving in Millan.

Fullerton roared back for three more runs in the fourth. Powell doubled down the left-field line and Kotsay bunted for a hit, Powell moving to third. Ferguson laid down another bunt. This time Bell tried to catch Powell off third, but he threw wildly and Powell scored. At that point, the Cowboys went to the bullpen for Tony Fleetwood, who promptly threw a wild pitch that allowed Kotsay to score. The final Titan run of the inning came when Millan singled in Ferguson for a 9-4 lead. The Titans had the bases loaded when Jason Gill hit into a double play to end the inning.

The Titans could hardly get comfortable with the cushion. Oklahoma State came back for two runs in its half of the fourth to cut it to 9-6. Wagner got into trouble with two more walks and a single by Benz. Then Peter Prodanov doubled in three runs with the bases loaded and Wagner went to the sidelines. Kotsay came on in relief and allowed a walk to load the bases again, but he got out of the inning when Craig Wagner grounded out.

Fullerton boosted the lead to 11-6 in the top of the fifth. The Titans loaded the bases without a hit. Jack Jones was hit by a pitch and Powell and Hemphill walked. Pinch-hitter Sal Mancuso singled down the third-base line, driving in Jones and Powell.

The Cowboys had the bases loaded with none out against Kotsay in the sixth, but OSU got only one run when Prodanov bounced into a double play and Sean Hugo popped up.

Oklahoma State continued to fight back. Pinch-hitter Marlon Gardinera homered as the leadoff batter in the seventh to cut the lead to 11-8. The Titans got out of the inning giving up only that one run when Cad Rolish came to the rescue in relief to get the final out with two Cowboy runners on base.

The Cowboys had to go with Bell in relief against Texas Christian.