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Titans Make Six Errors but Beat Arizona State

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Cal State Fullerton and Arizona State, once bitter rivals, got back on the same field Tuesday night for the first time since 1985, but the quality of baseball didn’t make it memorable.

The Titans, who had gone four consecutive games without an error, made six against the Sun Devils but escaped with a 7-5 victory at Titan Field. It was the eighth consecutive victory for Fullerton (18-5). ASU dropped to 20-10.

The bright spot for Fullerton was a solid relief effort from Marco Hanlon (1-0), who gave up only four hits and one run in four innings. The Titans brought in weekend starter Adam Johnson to pitch the final 1 2/3 innings, and he gave up one hit and earned the save.

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“We were awful at times, but good teams find a way to win, and that’s what we did,” Titan Coach George Horton said.

The Titan-Sun Devil series, which former Titan coach Augie Garrido said had become “too intense” in the 1980s, was stopped because bad blood had developed.

It took 14 years and different coaches--Horton and the Sun Devils’ Pat Murphy--to bring the nationally prominent programs back together.

The tone of the game was set in the first inning when each team scored twice with help from errors.

Titan starter Jordan DeJong walked two of the first three batters he faced, and Willie Bloomquist scored on Titan catcher Jeff Gates’ wild throw to second on a steal attempt. Andrew Beinrink later scored on an infield out.

Fullerton’s first two runs scored on a bases-loaded error by second baseman Mark Ernster after Robert Guzman and Reed Johnson singled and Chris Beck bunted for a hit. Ernster stole home in the second after he singled and advanced on infield outs.

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The Titans took a 4-3 lead in the third. Spencer Oborn singled, extending his hitting streak to 22 consecutive games, and scored on Ryan Owens’ sacrifice fly. Beck, who walked, scored on Gates’ single.

Arizona State tied it in the fourth when Casey Meyers scored on Dustin Delucci’s double off the right field wall.

Fullerton scored two in the sixth with the help of errant pickoff throw and two wild pitches. Reed Johnson scored on Beck’s infield hit, and Oborn came home on the second wild pitch of the inning.

Arizona State cut the deficit to 6-5 in the eighth, but the Titans got the run back in their half of the inning on Ryan Owens’ RBI single.

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