Titans Leading in the Late Show

Cal State Fullerton began NCAA regional baseball tournament play Saturday battling for what Coach George Horton called “at least nine more innings.”

The host Titans got their wish once with an 8-6 victory over Virginia Tech Saturday afternoon.

But Fullerton (37-20) and Loyola Marymount (40-18) were still playing in an elimination game late Saturday night for the right to meet USC in today’s 1 p.m. championship round.

After six innings, Ronnie Corona, Fullerton’s starting pitcher, had 12 strikeouts and the Titans were leading, 5-1.

Only one runner reached base against Corona through the first five innings. Corona hit leadoff batter Tommy Perez in the third, but he was thrown out trying to steal second.

USC (40-18) advanced unbeaten after a 13-5 victory over Loyola earlier Saturday night.

The final game of the day between the Titans and the Lions, tentatively scheduled to start at around 7:30 p.m., got underway more than two hours later because of the length of the first two games.

Graduation activities at Fullerton prevented Saturday’s first game from beginning earlier, an athletic department spokesman said.

The Titans took a 1-0 lead against Loyola in the first inning. David Bacani led off with a single, and advanced on a sacrifice bunt. A walk to Jason Corapci and an infield hit by Chris Beck loaded the bases. Aaron Rifkin’s infield hit brought in the run.

Fullerton picked up two more runs in the third. A walk to Corapci and a double to the wall in left-center by Beck brought in one run. Beck scored on Jeff Gates’ bloop double into short right.

The Lions broke up Corona’s no-hitter on Perez’s infield hit leading off the sixth. Mike Martinez fielded the ground ball deep at short, but didn’t make a throw. Perez advanced on a passed ball. Mike Hymes got another infield single up the middle. Bacani knocked the ball down at second, but Perez scored from third when Gates, the Titan catcher, dropped the throw.

In the earlier game, Titan senior Chris Beck hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning that provided the margin of victory. Beck was four for five, including three doubles and three RBIs.

Beck’s shot to left with one out came after senior Jake Epstein led off the inning with a double.

“Their pitcher hung a curve on his first pitch to me and I was mad at myself for not swinging at it,” Beck said. “I didn’t think I got all of the ball that went for a home run, but it carried.”

The ball cleared the wall about 15 feet inside the foul pole.

Horton said he was happy to see Beck get the game’s big hit.

“Chris had a tough time [against Loyola Marymount] the other night,” Horton said. “But he’s had a great career here.”

Beck went one for five in Fullerton’s 6-4 loss to the Lions in the first round, striking out twice and hitting into a double play.

This season has been a struggle at times for Beck, who injured his left wrist in practice the day before the Titans opened the season at Stanford.

“It was almost a month before I could swing without my wrist hurting me,” Beck said. “And it was about two weeks before I really felt confident.”

Beck’s effort against the Hokies lifted his batting average to .315, the first time it has been above .300 since early this season.

Steve Woodward, another Titan senior, was three for three with two runs scored.

Freshman Nick Lovato, the Titan starting pitcher, held the Hokies to five hits and one run in the first five innings, but ran into trouble in the sixth. Lovato gave up two walks, including one that forced in a run, and was replaced by relief pitcher Sean Martin. Martin gave up a three-run double to Spencer Harris, the first batter he faced.

Closer Kirk Saarloos (7-5), who took over at the start of the seventh, retired the Hokies in order the rest of the way. He struck out four.

Virginia Tech starter Joe Saunders went seven innings, giving up 13 hits and six runs. It was his first start in nearly four weeks after being sidelined by mononucleosis. Reliever Anthony Miller (5-3) took the loss.