Against Houston, There’s No Problem

Cal State Fullerton had to struggle for two earlier one-run victories over Houston.

But Sunday the Titans did it the easy way.

Catcher Jeff Gates drove in four runs with a two-run single and a two-run triple, and outfielder Spencer Oborn connected for a three-run homer as the Titans swept the three-game series with a 9-3 victory at Titan Field.

It was a good hitting boost from two newcomers to the team. Oborn is a transfer from Brigham Young, and Gates played last year at American River College in Sacramento.

“I was expecting way too much from myself for a while, but now I’m more relaxed, and I think I’m hitting better,” Oborn said. “I had put up some good numbers at BYU, but when you come to a new team you feel like you have to prove yourself again. I just had to relax.”

The homer was Oborn’s first of the season, but he has been one of the team’s most consistent hitters lately. Oborn is batting .426 and is second on the team with 21 runs batted in.

Gates says the same formula has worked for him. “I think it’s all starting to come together,” Gates said. “As a new player, I think I was trying to do too much early in the season. But now I’m more relaxed and staying on the ball better.”

The 17th-ranked Titans (14-5) also received solid pitching from Matt Sorensen and Jon Smith. Sorensen (3-0) picked up the victory, giving up six hits and three runs in 6 2/3 innings. He walked four. Smith earned the save, yielding only one hit in 2 1/3 innings.

“This was the best of the three games for us, even though we pitched well and played good defense on Friday,” Titan Coach George Horton said. “We haven’t been executing as well offensively as we need to. We’ve been too inconsistent.”

Houston (8-8) got a run off Sorensen in the second, but the Titans came back for two off Cougar starter Shane Nance (1-3) in the fourth. Chris Beck, who leads the Titans in batting and RBIs, walked with one out before Ryan Owens doubled to left. Both scored when Gates singled down the right-field line.

The Cougars tied it at 2-2 in sixth on Brandon Caraway’s double and Jarrod Bitter’s infield hit, but the Titans came back for three runs in the bottom of the inning, with Gates’ triple the big hit. Sean Bischofberger, a freshman in the lineup at designated hitter, singled in the other run.

The Titans were able to coast after Oborn’s homer to left-center in the seventh.

The Titans open the Big West Conference season at home Friday in a three-game series against New Mexico State.

* BOX SCORE: D7