Cal State Fullerton baseball moved into a three-way tie for first in the Big West Conference as they swept UC Riverside in three games at the Riverside Sports Complex.
The Titans (26-20 overall, 11-4 Big West) came alive offensively in their weekend series against the Highlanders (13-32 overall, 2-13 Big West). Fullerton outscored Riverside 35-4 over the weekend, including a 19-0 victory Saturday. The Titans also won 9-0 Friday in the opener, as well as 7-4 in Sunday’s series finale.
The Titans picked up where they left off earlier in the week, collecting their third win in a row by a score of 9-0. Fullerton tallied 15 hits, as junior Josh Vargas lead the way going 3-for-4. A total of five Titans ended the game with hits, including David Olmedo-Barrera, Tanner Pinkston, Taylor Bryant and Jarrod Bravo, who finish with three runs batted in.
Junior Thomas Eshelman was on the mound for the Titans Friday night, where he earned his fifth win of the season. Eshelman pitched seven scoreless innings on the night, giving up four hits and striking out seven without walking a batter. So far this season, Eshelman has totaled 86 strikeouts, while only giving up five walks.
Eshelman retired 10 straight batters between the first and fourth innings, striking out six consecutive batters throughout his early-inning dominance.
Fullerton’s Chad Hockin and Shane Stillwagon finished the game with a scoreless inning apiece.
Saturday was a record-breaking day for the the Titans as they managed to score 19 runs on 25 hits. This is the first time the Titans totaled 25 hits since a 25-0 victory against Pacific on March 30, 2013. This is also the most runs the Titans have scored in a game this season since scoring 13, which they did twice, once against UC Davis and against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Timmy Richards, Dustin Vaught, A.J. Kennedy, Dalton Blaser, Tyler Stieb, Olmedo-Barrera, Bryant and Vargas all collected multiple hits on the night. Kennedy and Bryant tied for the team lead with three hits each. Richards finished the game with a career-high five RBIs.
Justin Garza pitched for the Titans Saturday night and went six innings, giving up three hits, two walks, while striking out five batters. Garza picked up his fourth win of the season as the Titans shut out the Highlanders for the second consecutive night 19-0.
Sophomore pitcher Stillwagon got a chance to swing the bat for the Titans Saturday and picked up his first career hit.
Fullerton completed the sweep with a 7-4 win against UC Riverside Sunday.
The Titans set a school record, pitching 30.2 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to the seventh inning against USC Tuesday night. The recording-breaking streak was broken up in the seventh inning as the Highlanders’ Cody Sporrer flied out to cash in Adonis Morrison from third base.
For the third consecutive game, the Titans’ starting pitcher picked up the win. Freshman John Gavin (6-1) pitched five innings, allowing four hits, four strikeouts and finished the game with no walks.
The Titans got out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning thanks to three hits and a walk. The Titans would never relinquish the lead.
Bravo, who got on base via a walk, has now reached base in 27 consecutive games.
The Titans elevated their record to 11-4 in the Big West Conference, which ties them with UC Irvine and the No. 11-ranked team in the nation, UC Santa Barbara.
The Titans are riding a five-game winning streak since their bats and pitching both caught fire over the past week.
Fullerton will need to continue their solid play this weekend; they will take on fellow conference leaders and one of the top teams in the nation in UCSB (34-10 overall, 11-4 Big West).
The Gauchos will make the trip down to Goodwin Field to take on the Titans this weekend. First pitch will be Friday night at 7 p.m.