Titans Stop the Trojans in Ninth

It was a midweek game, but when No. 1 Cal State Fullerton and No. 2 USC played Wednesday night at Dedeaux Field, it turned out to be high drama.

The Titans called in Mark Kotsay from center field to pitch the bottom of the ninth with a one-run lead, and Kotsay, who has built a reputation of being at his best in pressure situations, turned back the Trojans for a 5-4 Fullerton victory.

Kotsay, who pitched the final 1 2/3 innings last year when Fullerton defeated USC in the College World Series title game, gave up a high-chopper single to Alfonso Montoya and walked Ryan Stromsborg on a three-two pitch with one out, but Kotsay got the final two outs to preserve the Titans’ second victory of the season over USC.

It was Kotsay’s third save of the season in three opportunities. Kotsay also had two of Fullerton’s 12 hits. C.J. Ankrum and Tony Martinez each had three hits.

Fullerton (37-4) defeated USC (31-10-1) earlier this season in the finals of the Anaheim Hilton & Towers Baseball Classic at Fullerton by a 17-4 margin.

Fullerton used five pitchers, including Kotsay, and USC three, with each team conserving strength for their weekend conference series. The Titans play at San Jose State and the Trojans are at California. Starter Luis Estrella (2-0) picked up the victory in the three-hour 24-minute game that ended in a light rain.

Fullerton, winning its sixth consecutive game before a crowd of 1,258, took a 4-0 lead before USC battled back. The Titans scored a run in the first off USC starter Javier Mejia, when Ankrum singled and scored on Kotsay’s opposite-field double into the left-field corner.

Estrella ran into trouble in the second, giving up two consecutive walks after a two-out single to Chad Moeller to load the bases in the second, but Stromsborg bounced into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Fullerton added two runs in the third. Steve Chatham had a leadoff single, stole second and moved to third on a balk before scoring on Ankrum’s hit. Kotsay singled and Jeremy Giambi walked, loading the bases, but Scott Seal grounded into a double play. Ankrum scored on the play, but Meji got away without further damage.

Mejia gave up a walk to Mike Lamb to open the fourth and was replaced by Brian Ponchak, and Lamb scored on a wild pitch for a 4-0 Titan lead after two fly ball outs.

The Trojans scored their first run in the fourth off Dan White, who worked two innings, when Jeff Inglin reached on an error by shortstop Jack Jones and scored on a double play.

The Titans had a chance to add to their lead in the fifth when Ankrum doubled to open the inning and Kotsay walked on fourth pitches. But Ankrum was thrown out at third on Giambi’s attempted sacrifice, and Kotsay was picked off second. The inning ended when Montoya made a diving catch on Seal’s line drive to deep left-center.