This Season, 49ers Appear Ready to Run Away With It

The last time Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton were about to play each other in a Big West Conference baseball series, the 49ers appeared nearly dead in the water.

They were 7-10 for the season and had lost five of their previous six games.

Their two top pitchers, Marcus Jones and Rocky Biddle, were struggling. Biddle, regarded as a potential first-round draft choice, had a 2-3 record, and Jones, the returning Big West pitcher of the year, was 2-2.

But that was a month ago.

Long Beach won two of three games against the Titans and has been nearly unbeatable since. The 49ers, 24-13 and ranked 14th nationally, have won 16 of their last 18 games, including Tuesday night’s 14-3 victory over fifth-ranked UCLA.

Fullerton and Long Beach play their second three-game series of the season beginning at 7 tonight at Titan Field, and the 49ers are threatening to run away with the Big West Southern Division after 13 consecutive conference victories. They lead Fullerton (22-16-1) by four games with 15 left in the conference’s regular season.

“It certainly appears that Long Beach is hitting on all cylinders now,” Titan Coach George Horton said. “They’ve put together some very consistent performances. They’re getting good pitching, and when it drops off at all, they get help from the offense. That’s what it takes to do what they’ve done.”

Jones and Biddle have won every game they’ve started since the first series with Fullerton. Jones was the loser in the second game of that series to drop to 2-3 but has come back strong.

Jones has a 1.06 earned-run average in his last four starts. In the last three, Jones (6-3, 4.15 ERA) has struck out 38 and walked two. Opponents are batting .200 against him during that time, compared to .307 in his first six starts. Biddle is 6-3 with a 4.26 ERA.

Iran Barrera (5-1, 4.17 ERA) has become a solid third starter, and Ara Petrosian (3-1, 3.14) is the Big West’s most dominant closer.

“Barrera has been a big key in all this,” Long Beach Coach Dave Snow said. “He’s pitched well enough to keep us in games and give us a chance to win them. He was sort of like the other two starters early and was having trouble getting going, but now all three of them are pitching more to their potential.”

Fullerton has a conference-best 4.68 ERA, thanks primarily to Brian Tokarse’s 1.96. Tokarse (8-0) had the Titans’ first shutout of the season last weekend against Sacramento State. Opponents are batting only .194 against him.

Matt Wise (2-5, 3.72) continues to pitch well for the Titans, even if it’s not reflected in his record. Fullerton scored an average of three runs in the five games he has lost. Four of the losses have been by one or two runs. The third starter, Brandon Duckworth, is 5-1 with a 5.47 ERA.

Mike Greenlee (4-1, 2.97) has been a solid closer for the Titans, but has run into problems in his last two appearances. Greenlee lost his first game of the season Sunday at Sacramento State, where the Titans were beaten, 10-9, in 14 innings. “He still threw three scoreless innings, but we had to go longer with him than we normally would,” Horton said.

Fullerton’s offense hasn’t been as effective or as consistent as expected, though first baseman C.J. Ankrum (.343) and outfielder Pete Fukuhara (.340) have hit well recently. Catcher Mike Lamb leads the Titans with a .352 average and 35 runs batted in.

Long Beach has one of the conference’s top hitters in first baseman Toby Sanchez, who is on a .422 tear with a team-leading six homers. “But it’s not been just one guy,” Snow said. “We’ve had a lot of guys who have been hitting well for us.”

Despite the comfortable lead in the division, Snow says he’s taking nothing for granted. “With the conference going from 21 to 30 games this season, there’s still a lot of baseball to be played,” he said. “Before, you could feel pretty good if you had a 14-1 record, but not with the new schedule.”