Beck’s Pain Is Titans’ Gain in Victory Over 49ers

Cal State Fullerton’s Chris Beck made a quick recovery Saturday night, and so did the Titans.

A night after having to leave the game after being hit on his right elbow by a pitch, the junior blasted three-run and two-run homers to lead Fullerton to a 10-3 victory over Long Beach State in front of a season-high crowd of 1,793 at Titan Field.

Fullerton’s 14th victory in its last 16 games evened the final Big West Conference series of the season at a game apiece for today’s 1 p.m. finale.

The Titans (44-10, 25-4), who had been shut out on only five hits by Long Beach on Friday, ripped the 49ers (31-21, 18-11) for 13 hits and four home runs. Ryan Owens and Reed Johnson also homered for the Titans.

“I had a lot of pain last night, but they left it up to me whether I could play,” said Beck, who was treated by trainers for an hour Friday and two hours Saturday morning. “I had a good batting practice, and I knew I could play. I kept my swing short because extending my arm was more painful.”

Beck connected for a two-run homer in the first, and his three-run shot in the fifth put the Titans ahead to stay. It was the first two-homer game of his college career, and gave him seven homers for the season.

“I came to the ballpark thinking he wasn’t going to play at all tonight,” Titan Coach George Horton said. “When he pulled himself out of the lineup Friday night, I was concerned.”

The Titans also got solid pitching from starter Matt Sorensen and closer Kirk Saarloos. Sorensen (11-0) gave up eight hits over 7 1/3 innings, walking four and striking out seven. Saarloos retired the last five batters after taking over, two of them on strikeouts, for his sixth save of the season.

Kasey Olenberger (6-2) took the loss, giving up nine hits and six runs in five innings.

The 49ers got to Sorensen for four hits in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead. Jaeme Leal singled to lead off the inning, Sorensen walked Greg Dobbs and Bryan Kennedy’s base hit brought in Leal. The next batter, Jeff Jones, drilled a shot off David Bacani’s glove, but the ball caromed directly to Shawn Norris at second for a forceout, scoring Dobbs. Sorensen struck out Bobby Crosby for the second out, but A.J. LaBarbera’s line drive past a diving Bacani into center scored Jones.

The Titans lost starting catcher Craig Patterson in the fifth when Patterson was ejected by home plate umpire Mike Gilmore for protesting a ball-strike call. Patterson had struck out in the fourth, and had words for Gilmore as he walked away from the plate.

Beck’s three-run homer, after hits by Bacani and Johnson, put the Titans in high gear in the bottom of the fifth. Owens’ bases-empty homer to center later in the inning cleared the 30-foot high background screen, giving the Titans a three-run lead. It was Owens’ 16th homer of the season, which leads the team.