COLLEGE BASEBALL / BIG WEST ROUNDUP : Titans Clinch Share of Title With Victory

Cal State Fullerton clinched at least a share of the Big West baseball championship, along with the No. 1 seeding for next week’s conference postseason tournament, by beating New Mexico State, 4-1, Friday night at Titan Field.

Outfielder Tony Miranda drove in two runs, one of them on his ninth home run of the season, and scored another in a three-for-three night. Pitcher Jon Ward limited the Aggies to six hits in eight innings and Ted Silva came on in relief in the ninth to pick up his sixth save of the season.

The two teams meet in the second game of the series at 7 tonight with the final game of the regular season at 1 p.m. Sunday. A Titan victory or Long Beach State loss will give the Titans (43-9, 16-3 in the conference) the outright title. Long Beach State defeated Nevada Las Vegas, 6-3, Friday night, but still trails by two games.

“We played a good, solid baseball game,” Titan Coach Augie Garrido said. “We hit the ball well against a quality pitcher and Jon pitched very well for us.” The Titans had 10 hits off Aggie pitcher Jaime Mendes (10-4).

Fullerton associate head coach George Horton, who handles the pitchers, said it was an effort Ward (7-3) needed after a rough outing last weekend against Nevada.

“He was ahead of hitters all the way,” Horton said. “When he does that, he’s tough.”

The Aggies scored the game’s first run in the fourth when Jorge Perez singled, beat the throw to second when Travis Janssen grounded out and scored on Carlos Licon’s hit. But Miranda’s leadoff homer in the fourth tied it.

Fullerton went ahead to stay in the fifth when Joe Fraser and Jack Jones delivered consecutive doubles with one out.

The Titans had runners on second and third with two out in the sixth on Jeremy Giambi’s single and Brian Loyd’s double, but Mendes got Fraser on a high bouncer to the mound.

Fullerton went ahead, 3-1, in the seventh when Jones reached base on an error, moved to second on a sacrifice, stole third and scored on Miranda’s double.

The Titans picked up another run in the eighth. Loyd was hit by a pitch, and scored from first on Fraser’s bloop double down the right-field line.

In another Big West game:

Long Beach State 6, UNLV 3--Jason Hodges extended his hitting streak to 21 games with a single and two RBIs for host Long Beach (28-19-1, 14-5). Jeff Liefer had two hits and two RBIs. Because of Fullerton’s victory over New Mexico State, UNLV (32-17, 11-8) and Nevada each clinched a spot in next week’s Big West tournament.