Fullerton Holds Off Aggies

After grabbing a big lead with five home runs, Cal State Fullerton struggled to turn back New Mexico State, 15-14, in a Big West Conference baseball game Friday night in Las Cruces.

Greg Jacobs hit a three-run homer in the second and Aaron Rowand, Ryan Moore and Ryan Owens each hit two-run homers to help the Titans (30-12, 15-4 in conference) take leads of 12-0 and 15-4.

But the Titans, who had 17 hits, still needed George Carralejo to preserve the victory. He retired the two hitters he faced in the ninth for his first save, helping starter Benito Flores improve to 9-0.

New Mexico State (19-20, 4-12) trailed, 15-4, when it knocked out Flores in the seventh. The Aggies scored nine runs in the inning--six unearned--and pulled as close as 15-13.

New Mexico State scored in the eighth on Chris Roberson’s home run, but Fullerton’s Kirk Saarloos and Carralejo retired the final five hitters.

The Titans’ David Bacani had three hits, including a home run, and two RBIs. Teammates Rowand and Jacobs each had three hits and three RBIs.

The teams continue their three-game series today.

In another conference game:

Long Beach State 30, Nevada 6--Paul Day, formerly of Capistrano Valley High and Saddleback College, hit two home runs and had eight RBIs to pace a 30-hit attack for the visiting 49ers (25-13, 17-2), who trailed after six innings, 3-2. They scored 17 runs in the top of the seventh.

Jaron Madison had six hits, five runs scored and five RBIs for Long Beach.

In nonconference men’s tennis:

San Diego State 5, UC Irvine 2--The Anteaters’ Nick Varvais defeated San Diego State’s Eric Faulk, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Teammate Andrew Cheney also won in singles, defeating Kolo Rosenthal, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.

UC Irvine is 10-10; San Diego State is 13-6.

In Golden State Athletic Conference women’s tennis:

Southern California College 9, Biola 0--Eden Looney defeated Kari Bartlett in singles, 6-0, 6-1, then teamed with Nichole Tamplim to win in doubles, 8-0, for host SCC (12-10).