Romero Beats Long Beach

Ricky Romero and Cesar Ramos became close friends while on the U.S. national team last summer, but the Cal State Fullerton junior showed Ramos and rival Long Beach State who the better left-handed pitcher was Friday night.

Romero didn’t give up a hit until the fifth inning and the Titans took advantage of some early wildness by the 49er ace in posting a 7-2 victory in a key Big West Conference game in front of a sellout crowd of 3,554 at Fullerton’s Goodwin Field.

In improving to 39-12 overall and 14-2 in the Big West, top-ranked Fullerton leads 10th-ranked Long Beach (35-18, 13-6) by 2 1/2 games with four left as it moved closer to its second consecutive league title.

Romero (11-4) took a shutout into the eighth and yielded six hits. Ramos (10-6) gave up five earned runs and eight hits in seven innings.

-- Eric Stephens

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Freshman Angelica Selden pitched a four-hitter and struck out 12 as UCLA defeated Loyola Marymount, 6-1, in the first round of the NCAA Division I softball regional playoffs at UCLA.

Second baseman Caitlin Benyi hit two solo homers for the Bruins (31-16), who play Cal State Fullerton (29-19) today in the winner’s bracket. Fullerton beat Nevada Las Vegas, 5-4, in the opener of the double-elimination tournament.

Left fielder Ashley Van Boxmeer hit two home runs and drove in four runs to lead the Titans past the Rebels (43-18), who play Loyola (34-19) in an elimination game.

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Second-seeded Florida defeated seventh-seeded USC, 4-2, in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I women’s tennis team tournament at Athens, Ga. Jennifer Magley clinched the match for the Gators at No. 1 singles with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Nicole Leimbach.... The second-ranked Azusa Pacific men’s tennis team beat top-seeded Santa Fe, N.M., 5-3, to win the NAIA team championship at Mobile, Ala.