Johnson Strikes Out 15 in Titan Victory

New Mexico State was no match for Cal State Fullerton’s hitting or Adam Johnson’s pitching Friday night.

Johnson struck out a career-high 15 in eight innings and held the Aggies to eight hits as the Titans won their Big West Conference opener, 12-4, at Titan Field. It was the 15th victory in 20 games for the 16th-ranked Titans, and their fifth in a row.

Johnson (4-0) struck out the first five batters he faced and six of the first seven to take control against a team that leads the conference in homers and ranks second in hitting.

The Aggies (9-12) finally got to Johnson for three runs in the eighth, but by then Fullerton had a 12-0 cushion. Johnson, a sophomore right-hander, had given up only two hits and one walk through the first seven innings. Marco Hanlon took over in the ninth, yielding one run on two hits.

“Johnson’s performance was about as dominating as you’ll see,” Titan Coach George Horton said. “He was almost unhittable in the first seven innings, and they’re a good offensive team.”

Johnson said he didn’t think he weakened in the eighth.

“They had that one bunt that went over my head, and I jammed another guy and he still got a hit,” Johnson said. “I didn’t hit my spots as well as I should have after that.”

Johnson said he wanted to finish the eighth.

“I would have come back in the ninth, but my pitch count was up,” he said. “That’s as well as I’ve pitched this season. I was able to mix things up well in this game.”

First baseman Chris Beck led the Titans on offense with a three-run homer in the seventh and two other hits. The homer was his third of the season. The Titans picked up one run in the first and three in the second to take command early.

In the first, Aggie starter Todd Uzzell (3-3) gave up a walk to David Bacani and hit Reed Johnson. Bacani scored on Spencer Oborn’s sacrifice fly.

Catcher Jeff Gates’ double drove in Robert Guzman, who had walked, and Gates scored on a hit by Shawn Norris in the second. Johnson’s single scored the inning’s third run.

Two more runs came across in the third, with Aaron Rifkin’s double the big hit. A sacrifice fly by Gates and a single by Norris brought in two more runs in the fifth. Fullerton made it 9-0 in the sixth on Rifkin’s RBI double.

Bacani, the Titan second baseman, suffered a sprained ankle running out a ground ball in the sixth and sat out the rest of the game. “The trainers don’t think it’s a bad sprain, and he could play again this weekend,” Horton said.

The teams play again tonight at 7 and Sunday at noon.