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Sweep Gives Titans 10th Win in a Row

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Times Staff Writer

Cal State Fullerton, the top-ranked baseball team in the nation, extended its winning streak to 10 games with a three-game sweep at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Richie Burgos tripled home Shane Costa with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning Sunday to give the Titans a 4-3 victory.

The highlight of the Titans’ weekend was a 26-7 rout of the Mustangs on Saturday. Fullerton had 29 hits -- Shane Costa and David Fischer each had a career-high five -- and scored the most runs in a game since beating Pacific, 28-0, in 2001. The Titans have averaged nearly 12 runs during their winning streak.

Fullerton (38-8, 11-1) extended its lead in the Big West Conference to two games over Long Beach State, which won two of three at UC Santa Barbara. The 49ers (29-13, 9-3) got a three-run home run from Todd Jennings and run-scoring hits by Troy Tulowitzki, Tito Cruz and John Bowker in a 9-3 victory Sunday.

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Sophomore right-hander Jered Weaver improved to 9-3, giving up three runs in eight innings of an 11-3 victory. Mike Hofius had a home run and four runs batted in, and Chuck Sindlinger and Jennings each drove in three runs.

UC Riverside (32-12, 8-4) won two of three at home against Pacific but fell three games behind the Titans. Cal State Northridge (11-35, 5-7) won its first series this season by winning two of three at UC Irvine (17-27, 5-7). Brett Cayton went four for six with a home run and three RBIs in a 13-7 win Sunday.

With nine wins in 11 games, USC fortified its postseason hopes and put itself in the Pacific 10 Conference race with a three-game sweep at Oregon State. The Trojans (24-19, 9-6) swept a doubleheader Saturday with two one-run victories, then routed the Beavers, 12-2, as Jeff Clement and Travis McAndrews combined for seven RBIs Sunday.

USC and Arizona are tied for third place, one game behind league co-leaders Arizona State and Stanford. USC plays host to Stanford this weekend.

In the West Coast Conference, Pepperdine (28-16, 17-4) won its home series against Portland but lost, 4-2, Sunday, ending a nine-game winning streak. First baseman Chris Kelly hit his 14th and 15th home runs in the Waves’ two victories, and Greg Ramirez worked eight innings for the sixth consecutive time in Friday’s 14-3 win.

Loyola Marymount (22-23, 9-12) lost three conference games at Santa Clara. The Lions have dropped 11 of 12.

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UCLA will start play in the Pac-10 men’s golf championships today at Oakmont Country Club in Glendale as one of the hottest teams in the nation.

The Bruins, winless in the last four years, have won five tournaments this season. Ranked No. 40 at the end of last season, UCLA is No. 11 after winning last week at Stanford.

Steve Conway, Travis Johnson, John Merrick and Roy Moon lead UCLA. Ricky Barnes of Arizona, the low amateur at the Masters earlier this month, is among the favorites for the individual title.

The 72-hole tournament begins with two rounds today. The final round is Wednesday. Tee times start at 7:30 a.m. each day and admission is free.

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USC senior Mikaela Parmlid shot one-over-par over 54 holes to finish second behind medalist Vikki Laing of California in the Pac-10 women’s golf championships Saturday at Corvallis, Ore.

UCLA, led by Hana Kim’s fifth-place finish, took third place and USC was fourth. Cal won the team title by five strokes over second-place Arizona.

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Propelled by a 22-save performance by All-American goalie Jackie Frank, Stanford defeated UCLA, 3-2, on Kelty Luber’s goal with 2:03 remaining in the fifth overtime to win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation women’s water polo championship Sunday at Palo Alto, Calif.

Stanford (20-2) earned the league’s automatic berth in the national championships May 10-11 in San Diego and UCLA (21-4) figures to get the only at-large berth. In Saturday’s semifinals, Stanford defeated Long Beach State, 9-1, and UCLA ended USC’s season with a 7-6 victory in sudden-death overtime on Jessica Lopez’s power-play goal.

Katie Hicks scored three goals to lead Loyola Marymount to an 8-6 win over UC San Diego to win the Western Water Polo Assn. championship at Bakersfield. The Lions (23-8) qualified for the national championships.

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