Georgia Tech’s Rigby Shuts Down Titans : College World Series: Fullerton manages only three hits against right-hander in 2-0 loss.

After all the planning is finished and all the head-spinning baseball strategy is played out, sometimes it all comes down to something unexpected.

That’s what happened Friday in the opening game of the College World Series when Georgia Tech pitcher Brad Rigby shut out Cal State Fullerton, 2-0, on three hits. He struck out 10.

It wasn’t so much that the second-seeded Yellow Jackets won. It wasn’t so much that they turned the tables on Mike Parisi, who had been the winning pitcher when the Titans beat the Yellow Jackets, 2-0, Feb. 27 in Fullerton.

What was surprising was the way Georgia Tech won Friday, and the fact that the normally opportunistic Titans were held scoreless for the first time in 194 games, more than three years ago.

The Yellow Jackets usually win with hitting, not pitching. Georgia Tech came into the tournament with three of college baseball’s top batters. But forget about those guys with the .400-plus averages. Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Varitek and Jay Payton managed only one hit among them. The bottom of the order hurt the Titans and Rigby’s pitching put them away.

Georgia Tech, No. 1 in college baseball in runs scored with an average of more than nine per game, scored in the fifth on two hits and Parisi’s control problems. In the seventh, Michael Sorrow, a .240 hitter, hit his first home run of the season.

That was all Georgia Tech needed to boost its record to 48-16 and move into the winners’ bracket. Fullerton (45-15) now has to battle back in the losers’ bracket Sunday against LSU. Matt Wagner will be the Titans’ starting pitcher.

Titan Coach Augie Garrido felt it was a matter of missed opportunities. “We left several runners on base in the first three innings, and that certainly hurt us,” Garrido said. “I think the game centered around pitching, and each opportunity we didn’t capitalize on contributed to our demise.”

Georgia Tech Coach Danny Hall said Rigby, a 6-foot-6 right-hander who boosted his record to 14-4, was the key.

“He was throwing the ball well and keeping us in the game,” Hall said. “I was more comfortable with a game like this, than one with our guys out there slugging it. Every time we got in trouble in the game, Brad would would make a big pitch to get us out of it.”

The Titans had two runners on base in the first with two outs, but Jeff Ferguson, who had singled, was thrown out trying to steal. A walk and an error gave the Titans two more runners in the second with with one out, but they failed to capitalize.

Fullerton had two runners again in the third on a walk to Mark Kotsay and an error that allowed Bret Hemphill to reach base. But the Titans again failed to get the clutch hit.

The Georgia Tech defense and Rigby were stronger the rest of the way.

“It’s always difficult to separate whether it’s the pitching or the lack of hitting sometimes,” Garrido said. “We had a couple of swings on balls that were in the dirt, too. We had a another chance in the eighth but didn’t get a run out of that inning either.”

Kotsay opened the eighth with a double. Ferguson’s low liner back to the mound, however, caught Kotsay between second and third, and Rigby retired the next two batters.

The Yellow Jackets got the run off Parisi in the fifth when Brandon Hensley opened with a single, went to second on a sacrifice and took third on Michael Smith’s base hit. A hit batsman loaded the bases, and Parisi walked Garciaparra to force in the run. Parisi battled back to get out of the inning without further damage. He struck out Scott McIntyre and got Varitek to ground out to first.

“That fifth inning was a big inning for me and a big inning for the team, but unfortunately, there were some mistakes on my part in it, too,” said Parisi, who gave up five hits in 7 1/3 innings and fell to 11-4 for the season. At the time, Garrido said he thought getting out of the inning with only one run was a big plus for the Titans, but they never could get rolling on offense.

Fullerton center fielder Dante Powell, who suffered a hamstring injury in the regional final, played but was clearly below-par. He grounded out three times and popped up once.