Colton Eastman gathered his first career loss in the final game of the series against Maryland on Sunday. He gave up four hits and one earned run in 6.2 innings pitched. He also recorded eight strikeouts and walked just two batters in the pitchers’ duel.
(Patrick Do / Daily Titan)
Fullerton baseball wrapped up a nine-game homestand this weekend as it welcomed the Maryland Terrapins to Goodwin Field for a three-game series.
The Terrapins took advantage of key hitting and back-to-back complete games from their starters, winning the series 2-1.
On Friday, shortstop Timmy Richards belted a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to defeat the Terrapins 3-2 and extend the Titans’ winning streak to five games.
Richards and senior outfielder Josh Vargas both had multi-hit games Friday, going two-for-four and two-for-three, respectively.
The game stayed scoreless until the third inning, when Tanner Pinkston hit a sac fly to send Vargas home. The Titans added another run in the fifth, but it wouldn’t be enough to keep them out of extras when Maryland scored two in the eighth.
On the mound, starter Blake Quinn went five innings, giving up no runs and one hit. Reliever Miles Chambers picked up his first win of the season.
Freshman Connor Seabold took the mound in Saturday’s 8-4 loss to Maryland and ran into early trouble, giving up three hits, including a two-run home run in the top of the first inning by Maryland left fielder Marty Costes.
Fullerton got on the board at the bottom of the second by way of a solo home run by catcher Chris Hudgins. Maryland pitcher Taylor Bloom held the Titans scoreless until the sixth inning, when CSUF cut the Terrapins’ lead in half on a Dalton Blaser RBI single.
Maryland’s offense exploded in the seventh, scoring four runs, including back-to-back home runs by Costes and first baseman Kevin Biondic.
Seabold ended the night giving up four runs on nine hits in six innings, contributing to a season high for the Titans in hits and runs allowed. Maryland pounded the ball for a total of 14 hits, including three home runs.
Sunday’s game saw freshman ace Colton Eastman take the mound in search of his fifth straight win, but he was thwarted by the Terrapins. Eastman gave up one run on four hits in six innings in the 1-0 loss.
“The most I can do is put up a goose egg on the scoreboard and have the offense come around. Unfortunately, not today, but the best thing is to keep the offense in it,” Eastman said.
Neither team scored until the sixth inning, when right fielder Madison Nickens doubled to right center to bring catcher Justin Morris to score.
Fullerton threatened to score at the bottom of the sixth with runners in scoring position and one out, but failed to do so as Pinkston grounded out on a double play.
“We had a lot of fly balls to the outfield today, a lot of weak fly balls, something we try to avoid,” Timmy Richards said. “We try to hit hard ground balls as much as we can, and some days it just doesn’t happen, and today was one of those days.”
Fullerton will head to Los Angeles for a matchup against the USC Trojans before returning home for a three-game series against the rival Long Beach 49ers.