Strong Pitching Helps Fullerton Beat Long Beach

Just a night after Long Beach State hammered Cal State Fullerton for 11 runs, the Titans got their revenge with strong pitching.

Starter Jon Smith and reliever Kirk Saarloos held the 49ers to four hits Saturday and Fullerton won, 5-2, in a Big West Conference baseball game in front of 2,081 at Blair Field in Long Beach.

The rubber game of the series is scheduled for 1 p.m. today.

“Our pitchers showed great mental toughness,” Titan Coach George Horton said. “They could have been tentative after the way Long Beach had swung the bats in the first game, but they didn’t do that. We were a tougher team mentally.”

Smith went six innings, giving up three hits and one walk. Long Beach’s only runs came on a two-run homer by Jaeme Leal in the fourth inning. “Coming into the game, I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to go because I had some arm soreness earlier in the week,” Smith said. “I had confidence in Kirk.”

Saarloos (4-2), who picked up the victory, gave up only one hit in the final three innings. “Last night was rough on us, so we needed this,” Saarloos said.

The victory lifted Fullerton (29-7, 12-2 in the conference) back into a 3 1/2 game lead over second-place Long Beach (18-15, 8-5).

Fullerton designated hitter Aaron Rifkin had two hits, scored a run in the seventh and drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth.

The Titans’ Spencer Oborn extended his hitting streak to 35 games with an infield hit in the sixth inning. Oborn drilled a low liner to short that Bobby Crosby managed to knock down, but Oborn beat the throw to first base. The Big West and Titan record of 38 is held by Brent Mayne.

Kasey Olenberger turned in a solid pitching performance for Long Beach, leaving with a 2-1 lead in the seventh after giving up four hits. Darren Merrill (2-2) took the loss.

Olenberger retired the Titans in order in the first two innings, striking out three of the first five batters he faced. Shortstop Shawn Norris nicked Olenberger for the Titans’ first hit in the third.

Smith had given up only one hit to Chris Wright in the second before Leal drilled his 14th home run of the season in the fourth. The towering shot left Leal only two shy of the Long Beach single season record of 16 set by Tony Laurenzi in 1988. Smith walked Greg Dobbs with one out before Leal’s homer.

“It was a changeup, but I thought it was a good pitch,” Smith said. “You have to give him credit. He’s a good hitter.”

The Titans came back to tie it, 2-2, in the seventh. Rifkin singled to lead off the inning, and scored on Ryan Owens’ double that rolled to the wall in left center. Long Beach Coach Dave Snow went to his bullpen for Merrill.

Norris flew out to right, but Owens advanced to third after the catch on a close play, and the second run scored on a safety squeeze by Robert Guzman.

Smith left after hitting Leal, the leadoff batter in the seventh. Saarloos came on and hit Scott Redfox, but the Titans got out of the inning when Saarloos threw out Leal at third on an attempted sacrifice, and pinch hitter Mike Hota grounded into a double play.

The Titans scored two more runs in the eighth. Oborn walked, Chris Beck was hit by a pitch, and Rifkin delivered an opposite-field single into left, scoring one run. The Titans tried another safety squeeze, but this time, Beck was thrown out at the plate. Pinch hitter Jeff Gates’ single drove in the second run.