In a Pinch, Baum Comes Through in Grand Style

Cal State Fullerton Coach George Horton called it “playing a hunch.”

Horton called back .420 hitting Aaron Rifkin with the bases loaded and the Titans leading by two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning against Sacramento State.

And pinch-hitter Chad Baum, with only two hits in 14 previous at-bats this season, pounded a grand slam to left field that highlighted a seven-run outburst in Fullerton’s 14-7 victory Saturday at Titan Field.

It produced one of the most enthusiastic, chest-bumping celebrations of the year.

“That put a smile on all our faces,” Titan third baseman Ryan Owens said. “He’s the true definition of a team player. He’s one of our hardest working guys on the team, the one who is always in the dugout getting every one else up. I’m happy he got his reward.”

Reed Johnson delivered an RBI double that broke a 7-7 tie earlier in the inning. It was Johnson’s fourth hit of the game.

The big inning helped fourth-ranked Fullerton (40-8, 21-2 in the Big West Conference) reach the 40-victory plateau for the 17th time in 25 seasons. The victory was the Titans’ 10th in a row and kept them 4 1/2 games ahead of second-place Nevada in the conference race with seven games to play.

The Titans’ Shawn Norris also homered in the eighth, and David Bacani hit a two-run shot in the second. Robert Guzman went three for four.

“I got behind 0-2, and I just wanted to put it in play,” Baum said of his homer. “I haven’t had many at-bats this season, but I always try to be ready.”

Baum, a senior, got his chance after Rifkin went 0 for 4. “Aaron seemed to be struggling today, and we noticed in batting practice that his approach wasn’t as good as it has been,” Horton said. “It was nice to see Chad do what he did. He roots so hard for all the other guys, and today he had a lot of guys rooting for him.”

Chris Beck, the Titans’ leading hitter with a .429 average, saw his 11-game hitting streak end, but he had only one official at-bat. Beck walked twice and drove in a run in the second with a sacrifice fly. Beck came out of the game after he hyperextended his left elbow making a tag on a wide throw to first base in the eighth. “They don’t think it’s anything serious,” Beck said.

Starting pitcher Matt Sorensen, who leads the Titans in victories with a 9-0 record, missed getting his 10th, giving up 11 hits and five runs, four earned, in six innings. Kirk Saarloos (6-2), the Titans’ top relief pitcher, picked up the victory, giving up one run and three hits in the final three innings.

Sorensen gave up a run in the second, two in the fourth, and came out after the first two Hornet batters in the seventh reached base. Jordan DeJong walked the first batter he faced, then gave up a two-run single to Casey Martinez. Saarloos got the Titans out of the inning with only one more run, striking out two of the four batters he faced in the inning.

The Hornets tied it, 7-7, in the eighth on consecutive two-out hits by Jesse Krebs and Aurelio Jackson.

Notes

The Fullerton game against UCLA scheduled for Wednesday has been canceled. The game was dropped to allow the team’s exhibition game against the Angels April 4 to be counted as one of a maximum 56 allowed by the NCAA.