Fullerton Wins to Remain Alive

By GARY KLEIN

June 13, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

OMAHA —

Dynamic clutch performances are nothing new for Cal State Fullerton second baseman David Bacani.

The senior second baseman has been a fixture in the Titan lineup for four years and has delivered countless important plays.

However on Tuesday, Bacani and freshman right-hander Darric Merrell had the biggest games of their careers as Fullerton stayed alive in the College World Series with an 11-2 victory over Tulane before 15,000 at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Fullerton (49-17) will play Stanford tonight and must beat the Cardinal twice to advance to Saturday’s championship game.

“You have to get hot to win the World Series,” Fullerton Coach George Horton said. “Maybe this was our spark.”

Bacani ignited the Titans’ 13-hit attack with a three-run home run in the fourth inning and also had a two-run homer in the eighth. He also made several spectacular defensive plays that helped end Tulane’s first trip to the World Series.

“I wish Bacani had stayed back in the hotel,” Tulane Coach Rick Jones said. “He was a one-man wrecking crew.”

Merrell (8-4) also did plenty of damage with an outstanding eight-inning performance that not only helped give the Titans a victory but allowed Horton to rest the bullpen for tonight and, possibly, beyond.

“Merrell was a machine,” Horton said. “He made it look easy.”

Merrell gave up six hits and pitched seven shutout innings before giving up two unearned runs in the eighth. He struck out four and walked three against a team that was batting .339.

“We were not going to end the season today,” Merrell said. “I think everyone on the team felt that way going into the game.”

Merrell, 6 feet 4, 200 pounds, was a 20th-round draft pick by the New York Yankees after his senior year at Temecula Valley High.

This year, he was 3-1 with a 3.61 earned-run average in Big West Conference games but struggled late in the season because of fatigue. He pitched poorly against Long Beach State in a game that would have clinched the Big West title and gave up seven runs in 2 1/3 innings in a regional loss to Texas Tech.

The two short outings gave him plenty of rest and he came back to pitch well in a super-regional victory over Mississippi State.

“Starting with the Mississippi State game, I forgot the pressure,” he said.

Bacani, the first player to be named first-team All-Big West four years in a row, helped Merrell on Tuesday by fielding ground balls or fly balls in all but two innings. He started a double play in the third, made an unassisted double play in the eighth and turned a double play in the ninth.

“Everything felt good from the start, and having [Bacani] come up with huge plays at second base is the best thing for a pitcher’s confidence,” Merrell said.

The score was 3-0 in the fourth inning when Bacani stepped to the plate with two outs and two on and hit a pitch from freshman left-hander Michael Aubrey (3-1) into the bleachers in left-center field.

Louie Lamoure, who went three for three, singled with one out in the eighth and Bacani drilled another homer to left one out later.

It was the first multiple-homer game of Bacani’s career. He has seven homers this season, three in the World Series.

“I just got hot at the right time,” said Bacani, who hit what proved to be a decisive solo homer in the Titans’ 5-4, series-opening victory over Nebraska.

Fullerton hopes the momentum continues tonight--and Friday--against Stanford, which beat Fullerton on Sunday and dropped the Titans into the losers’ bracket.

Fullerton is 2-4 in World Series games against Stanford and 1-9 in its last 10 games against the Cardinal. Stanford won two of three against Fullerton in February.

“If you look at every game we’ve played against Stanford this season, we’ve been in every one,” Bacani said. “With a few breaks here and there we would have won all of those games.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

College World Series

Double-elimination:

JUNE 8

* Game 1--Stanford 13, Tulane 11

* Game 2--CS Fullerton 5, Nebraska 4

JUNE 9

* Game 3--USC 11, Georgia 5

* Game 4--Miami 21, Tennessee 13

JUNE 10

* Game 5--Tulane 6, Nebraska 5

(Nebraska eliminated)