Titans Persevere to Defeat Pepperdine in 14 Innings

It took 14 innings, more than 5 1/2 hours and one comeback after another.

Finally, though, the Cal State Fullerton baseball team ended a four-game losing streak with a 16-15 victory over Pepperdine Saturday at Titan Field. The deciding game of the three-game series will be played at 1 p.m. today.

Scott Seal singled with the bases loaded and no outs to drive in the winning run after Rick Chessman, Pepperdine’s seventh pitcher of the game, gave up walks to Steve Chatham and C.J. Ankrum. Mike Lamb was safe on a sacrifice bunt.

“It was about time,” Seal said. “It sure was a long day.”

Fullerton (8-6) had a chance to end it twice earlier.

The Titans tied the score, 15-15, in the bottom of the 12th inning on run-scoring singles by Ankrum and Lamb. But with the bases loaded and only one out, the Titans were unable to score.

Pepperdine (3-9) had taken a two-run lead in the top of the 12th, when second baseman Nakia Hill’s wild throw to first on a potential double play allowed two runs to score.

The Titans also were in position to win it in the ninth, but reliever Brandon Duckworth gave up two bases-empty home runs to David Matranga and Mark Lopez, tying the score, 13-13. Fullerton went down in order in the bottom of the inning.

“We would have felt a lot worse if we played that badly and lost,” Titan Coach George Horton said. “We played sloppy baseball, but I guess it was a credit to the character of our players that we were still able to come back and win. It was a dogfight, a game of perseverance. Fortunately, we had the last at-bat.”

The Titans used five pitchers, with Brian Tokarse (1-0) getting the victory. He earned it after striking out the three batters he faced in the top of the 14th, after giving up only one hit in a scoreless 13th.

Pepperdine had five errors, and Fullerton three, along with two passed balls and a wild pitch.

It was wild game from the start. Two two-out errors by Lamb helped the Waves score five unearned runs in the first three innings.

Freshman Michael Garner started on the mound for the Titans, but he gave up five runs in 1 2/3 innings and John Alkire gave up three more in 2 2/3. Reliever Brandon Duckworth, who has been Fullerton’s most consistent pitcher, gave up nine hits and five runs in five innings.

The only thing saving the Titans was that Pepperdine’s pitching wasn’t any better.

The 12th-ranked Titans had 16 hits, one fewer than the Waves. Seal had four in seven at-bats, including his second home run of the season. Hill and Jerome Alviso each had three hits. Hill had a two-run double in the second and a three-run homer, his fifth of the year, in Fullerton’s four-run fourth. Alviso sparked a four-run seventh with a two-RBI double.

Seal hit a 400-foot two-run homer to center in the eighth that gave the Titans a two-run lead going into the top of the ninth.