Pedroza Saves Day Just in Time for Fullerton

Sergio Pedroza leads Cal State Fullerton in six offensive categories, but you never would have known it watching the right fielder scuffle mightily for most of the Titans’ first three games in the NCAA baseball regional at Goodwin Field in Fullerton.

Pedroza struck out and hit into a double play Sunday afternoon in an elimination game against Missouri before stepping to the plate in the ninth inning in a one-for-11 funk. With a runner on first and nobody out, Fullerton needed its offensive standout to come up big to help overcome a one-run deficit.

Mission accomplished -- and then some.

Pedroza hit a two-run homer and made a game-saving catch in the bottom of the inning as the top-seeded Titans rallied to defeat third-seeded Missouri, 8-6, and keep alive its hopes of repeating as national champions.

More than two hours later, Pedroza clubbed a three-run homer in the fifth inning of the late game against Arizona as Fullerton defeated the second-seeded Wildcats, 7-2, in front of an announced 2,269.

Fullerton and Arizona meet again tonight at 6, with the winner advancing to a best-of-three super regional against Arizona State.

Pedroza wanted to redeem himself after popping out to left field with the bases loaded in the ninth inning of Fullerton’s 6-5 loss to Arizona on Saturday night.

The Titans had scored twice in the ninth to pull within a run and loaded the bases with nobody out before Justin Turner, Pedroza and Brett Pill failed to bring home the tying run.

Fullerton stranded 17 runners during that 4-hour 10-minute marathon that ended at 12:16 a.m. Sunday.

The Titans took a 5-2 lead against Missouri in the fourth inning Sunday afternoon but then fell flat as the Tigers surged ahead with four consecutive runs.

With the Titans trailing, 6-5, Turner led off the top of the ninth with a single past diving Missouri third baseman John McKee. Pedroza, who showed bunt on the first two pitches from Tiger reliever Andrew Johnston, hit a 2-and-0 fastball to left-center for his 14th homer.

Pill then walked and eventually scored on Jon Wilhite’s suicide squeeze, extending Fullerton’s lead to 8-6.

McKee homered twice and drove in three runs for the third-seeded Tigers (40-23), who loaded the bases with two out in the ninth before Pedroza made a diving catch near the right-field line for the final out.

The Titans improved to 2-14 when trailing after eight innings.

Pedroza got things started for Fullerton in the nightcap against Arizona when he singled to right leading off the fourth and went to second on an errant pickoff throw.

Danny Dorn’s double to right-center scored Pedroza to give the Titans a 1-0 lead.

Pedroza stretched the lead to 4-0 in the fifth when he sent the first pitch he saw from Arizona starter Sean Rierson over the right-field wall for his 15th homer.

Fullerton starter Ryan Schreppel breezed through the first five innings, allowing only three baserunners, before Jeff Van Houten launched a two-run homer in the sixth to cut the Wildcats’ deficit in half.

But Turner ripped an RBI single up the middle in the seventh to make it 5-2, and Ronnie Prettyman drove in a run in the seventh with a bunt single on the left side of the pitcher’s mound.