Advertisement

Cal State Fullerton’s season ends with 7-5 loss to Illinois

Share

Nick Ramirez represented the tying run and then, one foul popup later, he didn’t.

Just like that, the Cal State Fullerton baseball team’s season came to an end Sunday in an NCAA regional.

Held to one run and one hit through five innings, Illinois (30-26) scored six runs late, including three in the eighth inning, and beat the Titans, 7-5, at Goodwin Field.

“We jumped out to a 4-1 lead, and they kept clawing back,” Fullerton Coach Dave Serrano said. “We let them hang around enough and we left the door cracked open enough for them to come back.”

Advertisement

The loss eliminated the Titans (41-17) from the NCAA regional and sent the Fighting Illini to a game against Stanford on Sunday night.

After giving up a leadoff double to Illinois second baseman Pete Cappetta, who eventually scored, in the first inning, Fullerton pitcher Colin O’Connell retired 12 consecutive batters from the second inning through the fifth. The Titans held a 4-1 lead and appeared headed toward a victory.

“We had some miscues in the [seventh] inning that again opened the door and allowed a team that is accustomed to winning late to win late,” Serrano said. “We allowed them back in the game.”

A single by Illinois’ Josh Parr in the sixth turned into a run, and two more Illini runs in the seventh tied the score before Nick Ramirez replaced O’Connell on the mound. Ramirez walked two batters in the eighth. Illinois first baseman Matt Dittman drove in one run with a single, and right fielder Davis Hendrickson drove in the winning runs with a two-run double.

“The pitch that Dittman hit that just fell in was a good pitch, down and away,” Ramirez said. “Then [Hendrickson’s] double was a slider that I left up.”

Hendrickson prevented at least two runs from scoring in the fifth inning with a diving catch along the right-field foul line. The catch ended the inning, leaving two runners on.

Advertisement

Ramirez had three hits and two runs batted in. Fullerton’s Casey Watkins and Greg Velazquez, who had two hits, each drove in one run. The Titans scored once in the ninth, cutting their deficit to two.

Illinois reliever Chris Pack earned the win, pitching two innings and giving up one run and two hits.

douglas.farmer@latimes.com

Advertisement