Fullerton Pitching Falls Apart, Long Beach Capitalizes

Chalk up Round One for Long Beach State.

The 49ers won the first Big West Conference series of the season against Cal State Fullerton, scoring nine runs in the last three innings for a 15-8 victory in the deciding game Sunday at Fullerton.

It moved Long Beach (25-13, 13-5) into a half-game lead over Fullerton (22-13, 11-4) in the conference race. The teams will meet again in a three-game series in Long Beach May 19-21.

“We got beat by a team that was better today than we were,” Titan Coach George Horton said. “But we’re just halfway through the (conference) season. We’re still in control of our own destiny. If we didn’t have a chance to play (Long Beach) again, I’d be more concerned.”

The Titans also have one fewer Big West loss than Long Beach, which has played three more games.

But the last two weeks have been a struggle for Fullerton. The Titans are 2-5 in their last seven games and have dropped two consecutive Big West series for the first time since losing to Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara in 1996.

Fullerton’s pitching faltered Sunday, with Long Beach getting 17 hits.

Fullerton had a 7-6 lead heading into the seventh, but the 49ers loaded the bases against reliever Jake Moon, and Long Beach scored four runs after highly regarded closer Kirk Saarloos took over.

“It seemed like they had good swings on everything I threw this weekend,” said Saarloos, who was the losing pitcher in the first game on Friday when Long Beach scored four unearned runs in the ninth.

Titan starter Matt Sorensen pitched well through three innings but ran into control trouble in the fourth, walking three batters. He had five walks in the game.

Sorensen gave up singles to Ryan Clark and Chris Wright, then walked consecutive batters, forcing in a run. A.J. LaBarbera’s sacrifice fly gave the 49ers another run, and a balk by Sorensen forced in another.

Sorensen’s day ended after Chuck Lopez drilled a single to left, scoring another run. Moon (0-1), who took the loss, replaced Sorensen and struck out consecutive batters to end the inning.

The Titans tied the game at 6-6 with two runs in the fourth and three in the fifth.

The 49ers’ four-run seventh was a backbreaker to the Titans, and Abel Orozco ripped Saarloos for a two-run homer in the eighth to make it 12-7. Kasey Olenberger held Fullerton to two hits and one run in the final three innings.

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Big West Baseball Standings

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Conference Overall Team W L Pct. W L Pct. Long Beach St. 13 5 .722 25 13 .658 CS Fullerton 11 4 .733 22 13 .629 Sacramento St. 10 5 .667 16 21 .432 Cal Poly SLO 10 8 .556 19 18 .514 Nevada 8 7 .533 24 14 .632 UCSB 8 7 .533 18 18 .500 Pacific 2 13 .133 19 19 .500 New Mexico St. 1 14 .067 16 24 .400

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