Coleman Leads Pepperdine Over UCLA

It would have been easy for Pepperdine left-hander Paul Coleman to unravel Saturday afternoon considering the way things fell apart around him.

There was a dropped ball in center field. A pop-up that fell for an infield single. A pickoff throw that probably should have been caught by the shortstop but instead squirted into center field.

Yet, Coleman thrived under the trying circumstances, pitching 7 2/3 shutout innings to lead the top-seeded Waves to a 6-0 victory over second-seeded UCLA in an NCAA regional at Malibu.

“That’s when you see what kind of stuff you have, when guys can overcome the mistakes the defense makes,” Pepperdine Coach Steve Rodriguez said. “He did a tremendous job.”

Pepperdine (42-19) could clinch a berth in a super-regional at 3 p.m. today when it plays the winner of an 11 a.m. elimination game between the Bruins (33-24) and fourth-seeded Missouri.

Coleman and Jason Dominguez combined on a nine-hitter and held the Bruins to two for 13 with runners in scoring position. UCLA’s best scoring threat came in the fourth inning when Cody Decker doubled to left field and tried to score on Sean Smith’s single but was thrown out at the plate by center fielder Adrian Ortiz.

“Adrian throwing the guy out at home really fired me up,” said Coleman, who gave up seven hits and one walk, and struck out three.

Danny Worth had three hits and drove in the only run Pepperdine would need with a double off the left-field wall in the third inning, and Chad Tracy and Nick Kliebert each drove in two runs.

The Waves broke open the game in the ninth with four runs against Dave Huff and two relievers.

Missouri 5, UC Irvine 4 -- Pinch-hitter Ryan Lollis’ single to right-center field in the top of the 14th inning drove in J.C. Field from second base with the go-ahead run and the Tigers (32-26) dropped the Anteaters (36-24) to 0-4 in Division I regional play since the program resumed play in 2002.

Irvine, which stranded the potential winning run in scoring position in the ninth, 11th and 13th innings, put two runners on with one out in the 14th before Ben Orloff grounded into a double play that ended the 4-hour 44-minute game.

“We had the taste of victory every inning from the eighth inning on, and it kind of escaped us,” Coach Dave Serrano said.

The Anteaters had taken a 4-2 lead in the eighth when Cody Cipriano hit a two-run triple to center field and scored on an error. But Missouri forced extra innings with two runs in the ninth inning after the Anteaters committed a balk and one of their three errors.

Ben Bolch

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Cal State Fullerton 9, Fresno State 2 -- Fresno State avoided Cal State Fullerton this season as if it owed the Titans money.

The Bulldogs dropped them from the schedule, making no pretense that they were tired of the Titans padding statistics. But Fresno State had the match-up forced upon them by the NCAA this week and the Titans demonstrated why the Bulldogs were so skittish, with a victory in a regional at Fullerton.

Blake Davis had two home runs and Danny Dorn and Brandon Tripp each had one against starter Doug Fister, who had given up only three home runs this season. It was plenty of support for right-hander Wes Roemer, who gave up two first-inning runs, then was overpowering. He gave up five hits and tied a career high with 12 strikeouts in eight innings.

Fresno State will play San Diego in an elimination game today at 5 p.m.

Fresno State had seen this kind of Titans performance many times before. In fact, the Bulldogs had seen enough after last season. Coach Mike Batesole asked out of a scheduled series for this season in an effort to soften the Bulldogs’ schedule -- Fresno State had lost 21 of the previous 25 games against the Titans.

Fresno State filled its opening with Utah Valley State.

“I understand why he did it,” Coach George Horton said. “That’s fine. It just put a hole in our schedule.”

But Horton admitted that “there were some guys in our program who were [angry].”

There was also mild concern in the first inning Saturday, with Roemer serving up rarities. Ozzie Lewis homered for a 1-0 lead, only the fourth home run given up by Roemer this season. Steve Susdorf then walked -- Roemer had walked only four batters in 125 2/3 innings -- and later scored on a bloop single by Nick Moresi.

That put the Bulldogs ahead, 2-0. Roemer settled in after that, retiring 12 consecutive batters after Moresi’s single, eight on strikeouts.

Davis homered to tie the score, 2-2, in the second inning. He then gave the Titans a 5-2 lead with a three-run homer in the fourth. Dorn had a two-run homer in the inning, the seventh postseason home run of his four-year career.

Chris Foster

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San Diego 19, St. Louis 12 -- Junior catcher Jordan Abruzzo hit three of San Diego’s five home runs to help the third-seeded Toreros avoid elimination.

San Diego (32-24) built a 10-0 lead after four innings, but the Billikens (32-29) battled back to tie the score, 12-12. Abruzzo finished five for five with eight runs batted in.

The Toreros scored seven in the eighth to break open the game. Justin Snyder and Josh Romanski (5-4), who earned the win in relief, also homered for San Diego.