Irvine Gives, Fullerton Takes

UC Irvine had an opportunity to claim an important Big West Conference series victory against Cal State Fullerton and give first-year Coach Dave Serrano a triumphant return to the place where he helped lead the Titans to their fourth national championship last season.

But the Anteaters made enough mental mistakes in the first six innings Sunday to derail themselves and the second-ranked Titans capitalized when the miscues turned physical.

With the help of three errors in the seventh inning, Fullerton scored four times to end a tie and held on for a 6-5 victory in front of 2,309 to take two of the three games at Fullerton.

Both teams made their share of gaffes either while running the bases or in the field, but the Anteaters’ were more costly.

Third baseman Matt Anderson let Brett Pill’s sharp grounder go between his legs for a two-base error. After a hit batsman, left fielder Erik Johnson bobbled Felipe Garcia’s run-scoring single and then threw the ball into the Fullerton dugout, allowing another run to score.

“When you play a good team like they are, you got to do the little things and we didn’t play defense to our capability,” said Serrano, who for eight years was the top assistant to Fullerton Coach George Horton. “They took advantage of what we gave them and exploited us.”

After Fullerton (20-7, 2-1 in Big West play) scored two more runs in the inning for a 6-2 lead, the Anteaters (14-13, 1-2) rallied in the eighth with three runs and five hits against closer Vinnie Pestano.

Pestano wouldn’t allow them to deliver the knockout blow. With the bases loaded and one out, the sophomore right-hander got Brett Dalton to hit into a force play at home and struck out pinch-hitter Bryan Petersen.

“I felt like I was in control and they were just hitting good pitches,” said Pestano, who struck out Johnson to end the game. “Luckily, I was able to pull out of it in the eighth inning and get it done in the ninth.”

Serrano, who is in his first Division I head coaching job, admitted that the series had more meaning because of his association with Fullerton.

“I’ve never had a different uniform on against those guys,” he said. “Every single person in that dugout means something special to me.”