Loyola Strands Cal State Fullerton

It was a battle of strikeout pitchers, but Loyola Marymount’s Billy Traber made the big pitches when they counted the most Friday night.

Traber struck out three Cal State Fullerton batters after the Titans had loaded the bases in the fifth inning, then held the Titans to one run in the bottom of the ninth after Fullerton put three runners on base, again with no outs.

The clutch pitching enabled the Lions to hold on for a 6-4 victory in the first round of the first NCAA regional baseball tournament at Fullerton. The crowd of 2,976 was the biggest for a game at the Titans’ stadium.

Traber (10-4) and Fullerton’s Adam Johnson (7-4) each struck out 13, but Johnson was doomed by five runs he gave up in the first three innings. Each pitcher gave up nine hits in nine innings.

The victory sends Loyola (40-17) against USC (39-18) today at 4:30 p.m. in a matchup of first-round winners. Fullerton (36-20) meets Virginia Tech (34-24-2) in an elimination game at 1:30, with the winner of that game meeting the loser of the USC-Loyola game at 7:30.

Johnson set a Fullerton single-season record for strikeouts with 166, but Loyola tagged him for four runs in the first two innings.

Johnson gave up a walk to leadoff batter Mike Hymes, and David Maffei homered to left for a quick 2-0 Loyola lead.

The Lions scored two more runs in the second. Kris Zacuto singled to lead off the inning, and came home on Tommy Perez’s double. Johnson hit the next batter, Jeff Walker, and Perez scored when Johnson threw wild to third on Mario Cordero’s bunt.

The Titans got their first out of the inning when Walker was thrown out at the plate on a hard-hit ground ball to third baseman Shawn Norris, and Johnson struck out the next two batters.

Loyola came back for another run in the third with the Lions continuing to hit Johnson hard. Jason Aspito tripled to the wall in center, and scored on Anthony Angel’s hit. But Johnson got out of the inning without further damage.

“They gambled on Adam’s fastball early and it paid off,” Titan Coach George Horton said. “Adam seemed to take a little while to catch his rhythm.”

Fullerton got only two hits off Traber in the first three innings, one by Steve Woodward in the first and one by Craig Patterson in the third, but the Titans got to Traber for three consecutive hits in the fourth.

Woodward and Chris Beck singled, and Woodward scored on an error on Jake Epstein’s ground ball down the third base line. Aaron Rifkin’s sacrifice fly brought in Beck with the Titans’ second run, but Mike Martinez struck out and Norris grounded out to end the inning.

The Titans loaded the bases in the fifth when Patterson walked and was safe at second on Chris Stringfellow’s high chopper. Then David Bacani was safe at first on a bunt when Traber’s throw pulled the first baseman off the bag.

But Traber, in a sparkling pitching effort, struck out Woodward, Beck and Epstein to end the inning.

“It’s kind of been a bugaboo all year. . . . to get the big hit or the big blow when the table is set,” Horton said.

However, the Titans chipped away with another run in the sixth. Rifkin doubled off the wall in left, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored when pinch hitter Jason Corapci, who batted for Patterson, grounded out to second to make it 5-3.

Trailing 6-4 in the ninth, the Titans loaded the bases in the ninth when Stringfellow walked, Bacani singled and Woodward walked, but Traber pitched his way out of the jam. Beck was out on a fly ball to short right. Epstein’s fly ball out scored one run, but Rifkin grounded out to end the game.

Said Loyola Coach Frank Cruz: “It was a terrific win for us.”

* DIANE PUCIN

Tim Wallach returns home to coach his kids and at his alma mater, Cal State Fullerton. D13

* NCAA BASEBALL REGIONAL

Rik Currier struck out seven in eight innings in USC’s 8-3 win over Virginia Tech. D13