Titans Can’t Lock Up Title

Long Beach State spoiled Cal State Fullerton’s opportunity to clinch an outright Big West Conference championship and bolstered its own bid for an at-large berth to the NCAA baseball playoffs Saturday night.

The 49ers came back strong after a 10-run loss to the fourth-ranked Titans in the opener of the three-game series and blasted Fullerton, 17-6, in front of 2,102 at Goodwin Field.

It was the most runs scored against Fullerton since Long Beach defeated the Titans, 17-9, at Fullerton in 1998.

The victory by Long Beach (35-20, 11-6) kept UC Santa Barbara in contention to tie Fullerton for the conference title. Santa Barbara, which defeated Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Saturday, trails Fullerton by one game heading into the final day of the regular season.

Fullerton (40-15, 13-4) will send ace starter Kirk Saarloos (13-2) against Long Beach in the series finale at 1 p.m. today in an effort to nail down the title and regain some momentum for the NCAA playoffs.

If Fullerton and Santa Barbara tie for the championship, the Gauchos would earn the conference’s automatic NCAA bid based on their series victory over the Titans last weekend. Fullerton is assured of a spot in the 64-team field after being selected as one of 16 regional hosts on Monday.

Long Beach scored seven runs in the third inning to take control of the game. All the runs were charged to freshman starter Darric Merrell, who entered the game leading the conference and ranked 18th nationally with a 2.02 earned-run average.

Merrell walked in the first run after hitting Bobby Crosby to load the bases. Then Jeff Jones, who played at Marina High, blasted a grand slam. It was Jones’ second grand slam in four games, the third of his career, and his ninth homer of the season.

Merrell loaded the bases again in the inning on a walk, a hit batter and a single by Mike Hofius. At that point, the Titans went to the bullpen and reliever Wes Littleton walked Jeremy Reed, forcing in another run. Littleton ended the inning with a strikeout.

It was second time in two games that Long Beach manhandled one of Fullerton’s highly regarded starters. The 49ers chased Jon Smith after five innings Friday night despite losing that game, 16-6.

Jones and Crosby each were three for five for the 49ers, who had 17 hits.

Merrell (6-3) took the loss, and Matt Paz (8-7) picked up the victory. Paz gave up six runs, two of them earned, in 6 1/3 innings, striking out six and walking two.

“We certainly didn’t show up ready to play tonight,” Titan Coach George Horton said. “We were flat for whatever reason, and Long Beach showed how resilient they are.”

Long Beach’s victory left the series between the teams tied at 3-3 this season.