Long Beach Wins When Wise Cracks

Long Beach State’s Big West winning streak continued Friday night, and so did Cal State Fullerton pitcher Matt Wise’s string of bad luck.

Izzy Gonzalez jumped on a Wise fastball for a bases-empty home run in the top of the ninth inning that gave the 49ers’ a 2-1 victory over Fullerton and Wise in the opener of a three-game series at Titan Field.

It was Long Beach’s 14th consecutive conference victory, tying a school record, and pushed the 49ers’ lead over the Titans to five games in the Big West’s Southern Division. Long Beach (25-13, 15-1) has won 19 of its last 22 games while Fullerton dropped to 22-17-1, 10-6. For Wise, it was another strong pitching performance that ended in frustration.

Wise had a perfect game going until Gonzalez ended it with a double with two out in the seventh and a 1-0 lead until Long Beach tied it in the eighth. Gonzalez’s homer was only Long Beach’s fourth hit of the game off Wise. “That was the toughest loss I’ve had all year,” Wise said, but there have been several other tough ones, including another 2-1 loss to Long Beach. Fullerton has scored only 22 runs in the last seven games Wise (2-6) has pitched.

“Their pitcher had a great, great effort,” Gonzalez said. “He pitched his heart out. To get that home run was really exciting.”

Long Beach Coach Dave Snow said he wasn’t surprised that a home run decided such a well-pitched game by Wise and Rocky Biddle (7-3), who gave up six hits over eight innings.

“I thought someone was going to run into a ball, and I’m glad it was us,” Snow said. “I think Izzy got himself set mentally in the ninth.”

Fullerton scored its only run in the third. C.J. Ankrum singled up the middle with one out, moved to second on Biddle’s wild pitch and scored when Mike Lamb drove him in with two out with another high-bouncing base hit up the middle.

The Titans threatened again in the fifth. Biddle walked Pete Fukuhara leading off the inning. Fukuhara moved to second on Ankrum’s sacrifice bunt and took third on a passed ball. Fukuhara, however, was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Steve Chatham’s ground ball.

“We wanted him to go,” Titan Coach George Horton said. “We’ll always do that with only one out on a ball hit on the ground. He should have been sliding, but didn’t. It would have been a close play if he had.”

Lamb’s infield hit kept the inning alive, but it ended on Aaron Rowand’s ground ball that forced Lamb at second.

The 49ers tied the score in the top of the eighth. Catcher Casey Martin drilled a double inside the third base line with two out, and Steve Doherty drove in the run with a high bouncing hit that skipped off the top of third baseman Ryan Owens’ glove. Shortstop Jerome Alviso got to the ball quickly in short left, but pinch runner Sam Monroy beat the throw to the plate.

” It seemed to me that it took a long time for him to make the throw,” Horton said. “He said he couldn’t get a good grip on the ball, but it was a good hustle backing it up the way he did.”

The series continues tonight at 7 with the finale on Sunday afternoon.