Fullerton Rallies to Win Title

Everything about Friday night’s Big West Conference game seemed to go against Cal State Fullerton.

The Titans were facing undefeated Long Beach State standout Jered Weaver, and the big right-hander needed one strike to complete a shutout. Fullerton’s title dreams appeared to be dashed for the night.

But the resilient Titans never gave in. Felipe Garcia singled home Clark Hardman with two outs in the top of the 10th inning to give Fullerton a come-from-behind 2-1 victory and the Big West title in dramatic fashion.

“This is awesome,” senior pitcher Jason Windsor said. “There’s no pressure now. We won the Big West and now we can just go out there and have fun.”

No. 22-ranked Cal State Fullerton (34-20, 17-2 in conference) will be glad to see Weaver turn in his Long Beach State uniform. The Titans never defeated the ace in seven career matchups.

But they got to him when it mattered most. With a Blair Field crowd of 3,036 at full roar, Ronnie Prettyman singled in the tying run with two outs in the ninth to tie the score, 1-1, knocking Weaver from the game.

It was only the second time Weaver failed to get a decision in 16 starts. The junior kept his record unblemished at 14-0 but he couldn’t finish what would have been his third complete-game shutout to keep the eighth-ranked 49ers (36-14, 14-5) in the title race.

Ultimately, it was Windsor, the Fullerton ace, who would get the victory instead of the player some project as the No. 1 pick in next month’s amateur draft. Windsor (8-4) went 10 innings, giving up only five hits and a run. He struck out 12.

Feeding off the momentum of the ninth inning, Justin Turner opened the 10th with a single. Hardman bunted into a force play but Kurt Suzuki followed with a single to move the Titan center fielder to third.

Garcia, who struck out the previous two at-bats against Weaver, then slapped a single into right.

“We talked about having confidence every time you step up to the plate and getting [the job] done,” Hardman said.

Weaver, a 6-foot-7 junior, struck out the side in the eighth inning after putting the first two runners on. In the ninth, he quickly got Sergio Pedroza on strikes and induced a pop fly by P.J. Pilittere.

Weaver got two strikes against pinch-hitter Brett Pill, but the freshman worked the count to 2-2 before he lined a slider into the gap in left-center for a double. Prettyman followed with his hit to right field to score pinch-runner Brandon Tripp.

John Bowker homered over the fence in right-center for Long Beach’s run.