Titans Get 1,000th Baseball Victory

It was a milestone 1,000th victory in Division I baseball for Cal State Fullerton, and it completed a three-game sweep of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

But the most important thing to Coach George Horton is that the Titan offense appears back on the right road.

“It wasn’t perfect, but the results were at the level we wanted,” Horton said Sunday after Fullerton outslugged the Mustangs, 16-8, in front of 1,387 at Titan Field.

The Titans, who scored 42 runs in the weekend series, hit four home runs for the second consecutive game.

Fullerton improved to 16-11, 4-2 in the Big West, but remains a game behind division-leading Long Beach State. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which won two of three games last weekend at UC Santa Barbara, fell to 20-6, 2-4 in the conference.

Mike Lamb and Ryan Owens led the Titan offense. Each had three hits, including one home run, and drove in four runs. Pete Fukuhara, who batted in three runs, and Nakia Hill also homered in Fullerton’s four-run second inning. It was Hill’s team-leading sixth of the season.

Owens, a highly rated freshman, moved into the lineup at third base for the last two games of the series when Lamb was shifted to catcher.

“We like Mike behind the plate,” Horton said. “He feels more comfortable there, and his hitting also seems to pick up when he’s there.”

Lamb was pleased by the change. “I think my level of concentration is higher when I’m catching,” he said. “I was drafted as a catcher last year, so that’s where I think my future is. I just want to work hard to get better at it.”

A bigger question is how well Owens will adjust to playing third. He made a couple of errant throws to first on ground balls Sunday, and also was charged with an error in Saturday’s victory.

“It probably wasn’t fair to play him there without giving him more time to practice, but we like him in the lineup,” Horton said.

Owens, a shortstop his final two seasons at Sonora High, has been a backup at second base most of this season, although he started five other games before the weekend. “I hadn’t played third since my sophomore year in high school, but I think I’ll be all right there once I get used to the angle on the throws again,” Owens said. “I just have to remember that I don’t have to rush them because the ball usually gets to me a little quicker.”

Owens had no trouble finding the range at the plate. He had an RBI double in the second and a two-run single in Fullerton’s six-run third inning before getting his first home run of the season in the seventh.

The Titan pitching wasn’t as sharp in the series as it has been recently. Still, starter Brandon Duckworth picked up his fourth victory in five decisions Sunday despite giving up seven hits and eight runs, five of them earned.

Duckworth gave up homers to Boyd Dodder and Marty Camacho, the first two batters he faced in the sixth, and a two-run homer to Steve Rohlmeier with none out in the seventh before being replaced by Tim Baron.

Baron gave up two hits and one run in two innings, and freshman Michael Garner held Cal Poly San Luis Obispo scoreless in the ninth.

“The ball was really getting out of here today,” Horton said. “But Cal Poly definitely can swing the bat. They’re a good-hitting team, and they’d been hot up until now.”

The Mustangs used four pitchers, but none of them had much success. The Titans got to starter Tanner Trosper (1-1) for eight runs in 2 2/3 innings and were never under pressure after taking a 10-3 lead in the bottom of the third.

The Titans play at USC Tuesday, then are at UC Santa Barbara for a three-game series beginning Friday.