Titans Rally in 9th, Beat Houston, 8-7

Jeff Gates’ two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning drove in Ryan Owens and gave Cal State Fullerton an 8-7 victory over Houston in a nonconference baseball game Saturday at Titan Field.

Gates finished with three hits for the 17th-ranked Titans (13-5).

The Titans took a 4-1 lead after three innings and led, 5-4, in the top of the ninth when Houston scored three times to take a 7-5 lead.

Reed Johnson and Spencer Oborn opened the Titan ninth with back-to-back doubles to make it 7-6. Oborn later scored on a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Shawn Norris. With two outs, Owens singled and advanced to second after a hit batter.

Reliever Kirk Saarloos (2-2) earned the victory for the Titans, his second in as many games.

Houston is 8-7.

In the Golden State Athletic Conference men’s basketball playoffs:

Concordia 80, Biola 75--Josh Giles scored 26 points to lead Concordia (19-15) into the conference final. Matt Sebastian and Harald Hoffman each scored 16 points for the Eagles. Hoffman also picked up 17 rebounds.

In the Cal State Fullerton Easton softball tournament:

Cal State Fullerton 9, Northwestern 1 (6, mercy)--Christy Robitaille (3-1) pitched a two-hitter and struck out five and Nikki Hart had a two-run homer and a three-run triple to lead the Titans (10-6). In an earlier game, the Titans lost to Oregon, 4-3.

In Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s volleyball:

UC Irvine 3, Pacific 1--Mike Rupp had 39 kills, leading No. 15 UC Irvine to a 15-10, 15-13, 13-15, 15-6 victory over No. 10 Pacific.