Titans Survive Late Irish Rally

An optimist might say Cal State Fullerton is one victory away from advancing to an NCAA baseball super regional because of timely hitting and strong late relief. A pessimist might say the Titans are a step closer to the College World Series despite shaky middle relief and an offense that has scored five of its seven runs over two games via a small-ball approach.

A realist might say that although that combination of factors worked against Notre Dame on Saturday during a 4-3 Titan victory in front of 2,723 at Fullerton, it is not a style likely to succeed in a possible matchup with Arizona State in the next round or any team at Omaha.

After Notre Dame had rallied from a three-run deficit to tie the score in the eighth, Ronnie Prettyman bailed out the Titans in the ninth with a two-out double that drove in Kurt Suzuki with the decisive run. Closer Chad Cordero (5-1) escaped a two-on, two-out jam in the eighth and survived his first walk in 25 1/3 innings this season at home in the ninth.

The Titans (45-13) could clinch the regional today with a victory over Notre Dame (45-17). The Irish eliminated San Diego with a 6-3 victory in Saturday’s late game. Today’s first game is at 2, and if Fullerton loses, the teams would play again in the evening for the championship.

The Titans scored their first three runs Saturday on a bases-loaded walk, a sacrifice fly and a squeeze. It was similar to the way they defeated San Diego on Friday, when they scored two of their three runs on a sacrifice fly and a squeeze. P.J. Pilittere had two runs batted in Saturday, giving him three for the regional.

“We score runs any way we can,” said Prettyman, who drove a changeup from reliever J.P. Gagne to right-center field. Titan starter Ryan Schreppel continued his strong return from midseason knee surgery by giving up only one run and five hits over 5 2/3 innings. The left-hander has given up one run or less in seven of his nine starts.

Notre Dame had better luck against relievers Darric Merrell and Travis Ingle, who gave up two runs in the eighth. “We felt it slipping away,” Fullerton Coach George Horton said. “They made a run at us and we coughed up the lead, but we showed a tough mentality.”

Cordero retired Cody Rizzo on a groundout to end the inning. In the ninth, he walked Joe Thaman with two outs but struck out Steve Sollmann.