Fullerton Pitching Makes It Look Easy

Cal State Fullerton got its second strong pitching performance in a row Friday night.

Unbeaten left-hander Brent Billingsley gave up only two hits through eight innings, and the top-ranked Titans earned their 20th victory in 22 games this season with a 10-0 victory over Brigham Young in front of 1,218 at Titan Field.

Kirk Irvine pitched well in Fullerton’s 6-2 victory in the opener of the three-game series Thursday. The series finale is tonight.

Mark Kotsay led Fullerton’s 10-hit attack, going three for four. He drove in four runs, matching his season high.

“Billingsley, like Irvine, pitched very aggressively, and these two games were a big step forward for both of them,” Fullerton Coach Augie Garrido said. “It was a clean and efficient game from our standpoint.”

Billingsley (6-0) matched his season high with nine strikeouts. He walked four. Billingsley rolled through the first four innings without giving up a hit before D.G. Nelson singled to right with one out in the fifth.

Billingsley gave up another single in the eighth. Luis Estrella pitched the ninth, giving up BYU’s third hit of the game.

“This compares very favorably with Brent’s other two real good outings this season,” associate head coach George Horton said. “He pitched well at Texas, and at Stanford early in the season. He wasn’t trying to be perfect with every pitch this time, and it worked out fine. And BYU is a good hitting team. They just haven’t shown it so far.”

The Titans scored four times in the first after BYU starter Scott Haws (4-1) gave up two walks and a single to Jeremy Giambi that loaded the bases. C.J. Ankrum drove in two runs with a single, and Giambi scored when BYU right fielder Jason Woolley made a bad throw to third. Designated hitter Scott Seal singled in Ankrum.

Fullerton made it 6-0 in the second on Kotsay’s two-run single.

Haws held the Titans scoreless for the next four innings, but he was gone after a leadoff double by Jack Jones in the seventh. The new pitcher, Scott Tittrington, gave up an RBI double to Kotsay, opening the door to a three-run inning. Brian Loyd also had an RBI double in the inning. Kotsay drove in another run in the eighth with his second double of the game.

“It felt good to have some people on base when they had to pitch to me,” Kotsay said.