Titans Top UNLV to Extend Streak

Cal State Fullerton had four fewer hits than Nevada Las Vegas Friday night, but the top-ranked Titans finished with five more runs.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Titan Coach Augie Garrido said. “The bottom line is that we won. We don’t want to start expecting too much every time.”

What Garrido got was the Titans’ 13th consecutive victory in a season that continues on team-record pace at 28-2. The final score was 10-5, with the Titans helped by seven walks and two UNLV errors.

Fullerton improved its Big West Conference record to 4-0 and UNLV dropped to 3-1. The Rebels (27-9) had won five in a row and 14 of their last 16 games before the loss in front of 1,469 at Titan Field.

The two teams meet in the second game of the three-game series at 7 tonight. Kirk Irvine picked up his ninth pitching victory of the season to go with one loss, although he gave up seven hits and four runs, two of them earned, in five innings. He walked four and struck out three. Luis Estrella came on in relief in the sixth, giving up four hits and one run in four innings and getting his third save.

“We sort of lost the momentum on the defensive side in the fourth and fifth innings,” Garrido said. “That was the glitch. But this is about run scoring, and we made the most of our opportunities.”

Designated hitter Steve Chatham had two of Fullerton’s seven hits and drove in two runs. Second baseman Mike Lamb and shortstop Jerome Alviso also drove in two runs. Regular shortstop Jack Jones is still on the sidelines, recovering from an injury.

“We have good balance in this club,” Garrido said. “The same people don’t have to do it all the time. I thought Chatham had a great offensive game.”

The Titans took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by Jerry Giambi, who was one for two in the game and has 13 hits in his last 16 at-bats.

Fullerton came back for six more runs in the second on only two hits. UNLV pitcher Tom LaRosa (5-1) walked Brian Loyd and hit Tony Martinez before Alviso doubled in both runners. Alviso scored on Chatham’s single and Skip Kill, who had walked, scored on Mark Kotsay’s sacrifice fly. A two-run error by UNLV left fielder Chris Adolph brought in two more runs.

UNLV cut into Fullerton’s 7-0 lead with two runs in the fourth. Scott Vincent singled in one run, and Sean Campbell drove in another with a ground-rule double to left, but Irvine got out of the inning with a strikeout.

The Rebels got to Irvine for two more runs in the fifth to cut the deficit to 7-4. One run scored on Brian Anthony’s double, and Irvine walked in Kevin Eberwein with the bases loaded.

Estrella gave up a hit to the first batter he faced, Ted Wilkes, but retired the next six batters in order.

Fullerton made it 8-4 in the sixth when Kiil doubled with two out, and Chatham tripled to right center. Two more runs scored in the seventh on Lamb’s double after a walk to Giambi and a hit by Loyd.

UNLV got to Estrella for a run in the eighth on Ted Wilkes’ RBI double off the fence in left center.

In another Big West Conference game:

Long Beach State 11, Pacific 7--The 49ers (19-11, 4-0) used a 15-hit attack and led, 9-0, after five innings. Pacific is 17-11, 0-4.

In Big West Conference softball:

Pacific 4-2, Cal State Fullerton 3-0--Pacific swept the doubleheader at Stockton with former Los Alamitos High standout, Debbie Wilson, hitting game-winning home runs in each game.

In the first game, Fullerton’s Senetha Thomas hit her second home run of the game, her eighth, to give the Titans (26-12, 7-4) a 3-1 lead after 6 1/2 innings. But in the bottom of the seventh, Wilson hit a three-run home run, her first, to give Pacific (16-10, 5-2) a 4-3 victory. Earlier in the game, Wilson’s twin sister, Carolyn, hit her seventh home run to break the school’s single-season record.

In the second game, Pacific won after Debbie Wilson hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh and freshman Brandee McArthur, a former Villa Park High pitcher, pitched a one-hitter. McArthur (10-2) was the winning pitcher in both games.

Long Beach State 1-1, Hawaii 3-0--Long Beach (18-15, 6-4) split the doubleheader, winning the second game, 1-0, when Nicola Walsh drove in Amanda Favorite with a squeeze bunt in the bottom of the eighth. Hawaii is 24-13, 6-4.