Fullerton is in control; UC Irvine is in trouble

One night after rapping a season-high two dozen hits, most Cal State Fullerton hitters cooled off a bit.

Meantime, Dustin Garneau heated up.

The senior catcher from San Pedro was five for five, scored three times and drove in a run Saturday night as Fullerton advanced to an NCAA Division I regional championship game with a 7-4 victory over Gonzaga at Fullerton’s Goodwin Field.

Fullerton, seeded second nationally, will play tonight at 6 against the winner of today’s 2 p.m. elimination game between Utah and Gonzaga.

Utah remained alive by eliminating Georgia Southern with an 11-10 comeback victory that was won on a run-scoring single by former Bellflower St. John Bosco standout Michael Beltran.

But Fullerton is clearly in command of the regional. If the Titans lose tonight, they can advance with a victory Monday.

“I keep seeing this team, even 50 games into our season, they just keep growing up together,” said Fullerton Coach Dave Serrano, whose team improved to 44-14. “If we can stick together like we have over the last three weeks, it’s going to take someone playing pretty good baseball to beat us.”

If Garneau continues to hit anywhere near as effectively as he did Saturday, the Titans should punch their ticket to Omaha.

“Five for five is new for me,” said Garneau, who entered the regional batting .269, lowest among Titan starters.

While nearly every Fullerton regular enjoyed a multihit performance in Friday’s 24-hit barrage against Utah, Garneau had managed only a single.

“I kind of felt a little left out,” he said.

On Saturday, with Fullerton designated as the visitor, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Garneau had four singles and a double against West Coast Conference champion Gonzaga (36-17).

After getting hits and scoring in the second and fourth innings, Garneau delivered the most crucial, and unusual, play of the night in the sixth.

With the score tied, 4-4, Gonzaga pitcher Steven Ames (8-2) broke Garneau’s bat with a 90-mph fastball, the resulting sound more akin to a shattered golf club than a blast to the outfield wall.

“The bat exploded,” Garneau said. “The hardest ball I hit all year and the bat decided to give out on me.”

Without the familiar “ping” characteristic of aluminum bats, Gonzaga center fielder Drew Heid misplayed the flight of the ball, coming in before realizing the ball was sailing over his head for a double.

One out later, Fullerton’s Joe Scott singled to center. Heid came up throwing, firing a one-hop strike to the plate. Gonzaga catcher Tyson Van Winkle swept a tag at a sliding Garneau, but the ball came out of his glove and Fullerton led, 5-4.

-- Gary Klein

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Irvine regional

The Virginia Cavaliers were such unknowns in this part of the country heading into the regional at UC Irvine that San Diego State ace Stephen Strasburg called them “a team you’ve never really heard of.”

But one night after dealing Strasburg his first loss of the season, Virginia defeated top-ranked Irvine, 5-0, on Saturday at Anteater Ballpark.

The Anteaters will play San Diego State (41-22) in an elimination game at 4 p.m. today, with the Cavaliers meeting the winner at 8 p.m.

Irvine looked like the team that wasn’t supposed to be here Saturday, committing a season-high four errors. One came on a potential inning-ending double-play grounder in the fifth inning that led to Virginia’s first run when Anteaters second baseman Casey Stevenson made an errant throw.

Another run scored when right fielder Tony Asaro let Jarrett Parker’s single roll past him for a two-base error.

“Part of our story this year is that we play very consistent defense -- even highlight-reel defense -- so this is atypical of what we’ve done,” Irvine Coach Mike Gillespie said.

Virginia ace Danny Hultzen gave up six hits in 7 1/3 scoreless innings.

Defending national champion Fresno State’s stay in the regional was short and not so sweet after the Bulldogs were eliminated by a 4-1 loss to San Diego State.

-- Ben Bolch

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Elsewhere

Texas defeated Boston College, 3-2, in 25 innings at the Austin, Texas, regional in the longest NCAA game in history. . . . Travis Shaw hit a two-run homer as Kent State held on to beat Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 10-9, in an elimination game at the Tempe, Ariz., regional. Cal Poly trailed 10-2 heading into the ninth but fell short.