Saarloos Completes the Job

Cal State Fullerton pitcher Kirk Saarloos wasn’t in top form Sunday against Long Beach State, but that didn’t keep him from getting his sixth consecutive victory and his fifth complete game of the season.

Saarloos gave up a leadoff homer to Bobby Crosby in the first inning and two runs in the ninth, but the Titans won, 5-3, at Blair Field to take the nonconference series, two games to one.

Fullerton (15-10) and Long Beach (14-10) will meet in another three-game series at Fullerton May 18-20 that will count in the Big West Conference standings.

“I didn’t have my best stuff today,” Saarloos said. “But I think I got as much out of myself as I could. I lacked a little velocity, and my slider wasn’t as sharp. Those two runs in the ninth made it sort of bittersweet for me.”

Still, Saarloos (6-2) gave up only seven hits and one walk while striking out nine. He also made two sparkling defensive plays on comebackers, turning one into a double play in the third.

“Kirk might have been a little tired today because he’s been pitching one complete game after another,” Titan Coach George Horton said. “He got through the ninth inning on experience, knowledge and his attitude. He’s a hard guy to beat.”

Despite giving up three earned runs, his ERA is 1.32 and opponents are batting .162 against him.

The homer by Crosby, who was Saarloos’ teammate on Team USA last summer, came on a 2-0 pitch. It was the first home run given up by Saarloos since Feb. 4 and the fourth off him this season.

“He had leverage in the count, and turned on it,” Saarloos said. “He probably was expecting the fastball.”

Horton said he was pleased with the way his team came back with a better effort on offense after getting five hits in 16 innings and losing, 3-2, Saturday night.

The Titans took a 1-0 lead in the first when David Bacani was hit by a pitch, moved to third on Robert Guzman’s single and scored on Jason Corapci’s sacrifice fly.

After Crosby’s homer tied the score, Fullerton came back for a second-inning run when Mike Rouse singled and scored on the second of two wild pitches by 49er starter Matt Paz (4-4). Fullerton scored again in the fifth after P.J. Pilittere reached base on a two-out error. Guzman’s hit brought in the run.

Aaron Rifkin, who was in the lineup at designated hitter after a mild ankle sprain sidelined him Saturday, hit his fifth homer of the season in the sixth, and the Titans added another run on Chris Stringfellow’s hit and Shawn Norris’ sacrifice fly.

Bryan Kennedy drilled a run-scoring double and Edgar Varela had an RBI single off Saarloos in the ninth, but a double play ended the game.

“It was nice to win this series, but usually when we play this series it means so much,” Horton said. “It wasn’t quite the same with it being nonconference.”