Titans Rally Late Again

It almost seems as if you can’t count Cal State Fullerton out of the College World Series until it checks out of its hotel, boards its flight and lands safely back in Southern California.

For the second consecutive game, the Titans mounted a late-inning comeback, scoring a total of four runs in the seventh and eighth innings of a 7-6 victory over top-seeded Clemson on Tuesday at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Freshman designated hitter David Cooper went five for five with four runs batted in, and Wes Roemer finished what fellow starting pitcher Lauren Gagnier had begun by stranding the potential tying run at second base to end the game in his first relief appearance of the season.

“Our guys just don’t quit,” said Fullerton Coach George Horton, whose team had rallied from one run down in the ninth inning to defeat Georgia Tech on Sunday. “Whenever it didn’t look real good for us, they just kept grinding it out and found a way to come out on top.”

The Titans (50-14) are halfway through what Horton has jokingly called the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, having eliminated two ACC teams and needing two consecutive victories over North Carolina to advance to the best-of-three championship series.

The Tar Heels, undefeated in series play, could reach the championship series with a victory over the Titans at 2 p.m. PDT today; a Fullerton victory would force a deciding game between the teams on Thursday.

After spotting the Titans three first-inning runs, Clemson (53-16) rallied with three runs in the bottom of the inning off Gagnier before building a 6-3 lead with one run in the second inning and two more in the fourth.

But Cooper, who had singled in the first and third innings, hit a two-run homer to right-center field in the seventh to pull the Titans to within a run. Cooper then drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth with a bloop single into center field just out of the reach of diving shortstop Stan Widmann.

“He stepped up huge,” said Fullerton third baseman Evan McArthur, who drove in the tying run in the seventh with a single to left field. “For him to have a game like that and stay as calm as he did in an atmosphere like this allowed us to live another day. I think that’s a big thing for anybody to do that, let alone a freshman.”

The ninth inning quickly became dicey for the Titans when Clemson leadoff hitter Taylor Harbin doubled to center field off reliever Adam Jorgenson. Horton immediately turned to closer Ryan Paul, who was so ill from a stomach virus that he didn’t arrive at the ballpark until the seventh inning.

Stepping in to face Paul was Tigers slugger Andy D’Alessio, who had driven in his 84th and 85th runs of the season in the first inning with a two-run double. But Paul needed only four pitches to strike out D’Alessio on an 0-and-2 breaking ball.

Still two outs from victory, Horton elected to replace Paul with the excitable Roemer. The right-hander retired Widmann on a pop-up to left field and then struck out pinch-hitter Ben Hall with a slider on a 1-and-2 count to record his first save of the season.

“I kept talking to myself out on the mound and in the bullpen, ‘You can do this. Nobody can hit you out there,’ ” said Roemer, who said he could still throw “12 or 13” innings today against North Carolina. The Tar Heels defeated Fullerton, 7-5, in 13 innings Friday after amassing nine hits and five runs off Roemer in eight innings.

Oregon State 8, Miami 1 -- Mike Stutes gave up one run in six-plus innings and the Beavers scored four times in the third to eliminate Miami.

Shea McFeely homered for Oregon State (46-15), which will play Rice tonight. The Beavers need to beat the Owls twice to advance to the championship series this weekend.

Stutes (8-2) cruised through his first six innings, giving up one hit, a single by Eddy Rodriguez in the fifth. The sophomore right-hander gave up a one-out homer to Dennis Raben in the seventh that enabled the Hurricanes (42-24) to avoid being shut out at the College World Series for the first time since 1994.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.