The Cal State Fullerton baseball team did not play up to its expectations this past weekend, but they were able to sneak past the visiting Saint Mary’s Gaels by winning two of three games in the series despite inconsistent defense.
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSaKjPJ8Hak
Game 1
CSUF came out flat to start the weekend on Friday, getting caught up in a back and forth affair with what should have been an overmatched Saint Mary’s squad.
Sophomore Thomas Eshelman took the mound for Fullerton in hopes of extending his scoreless innings streak to 18, but the Gaels struck early with an unearned run in the first to give the visitors an early lead and bring the streak to an end.
Fullerton struck back with a run of its own in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly from junior third baseman Matt Chapman. They extended their lead in the fourth when a single from freshman Timmy Richards was misplayed by Gaels right fielder Anthony Gonsolin, allowing two runs to score to give the home team a 3-1 advantage.
Each team added a run over the next three innings, but CSUF seemed to be taking control of the game with its ace on the hill.
Sophomore Thomas Eshelman pitched nine innings and struck out nine Saint Mary’s Gaels on Friday in their extra-innings victory.
Winnie Huang / Daily Titan
Eshelman was cruising along until the seventh inning, where he allowed four hits to the first five batters he faced, which resulted in two runs crossing the plate that tied the score at four apiece.
The game remained deadlocked until the 13th inning when junior pitcher Koby Gauna allowed an RBI double to Gaels third baseman Anthony Villa, giving the visitors a 5-4 lead. Seeing as the Titans’ offense had been so putrid over six straight scoreless innings heading into the 13th, there wasn’t much hope for an extra-inning comeback at Goodwin Field.
However, junior J.D. Davis came to the plate with the bases loaded and two men out, and blooped a single into right field to bring in the tying and winning runs.
“I knew they weren’t going to give me a third fastball,” Davis said. “I just stayed on the slider and just let my hands work to just shoot it the other way like coach always said.”
While it wasn’t pretty, CSUF earned the 6-5 win by coming back in a somewhat desperate situation for the struggling Titans.
“We got lucky,” Head Coach Rick Vanderhook said. “We’re still searching on offense to see what we can do, and we leave too many guys on.”
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=YarV6X4DDys
Game 2
The second game of the weekend series was easily the worst for CSUF. Recording just four hits on the day, the Titans offense struggled to get going all day against Saint Mary’s pitcher Cameron Neff in their 6-0 loss.
The Gaels freshman was not overpowering by any means, striking out just three batters, but he was able to keep the Titan bats off balance throughout his nine-inning gem.
Titans’ junior Grahamm Wiest got the ball on Saturday, moving up from his usual Sunday role due to a shoulder injury ailing sophomore Justin Garza. Wiest filled in admirably, hurling eight innings while allowing just three runs, none of which were earned.
The ninth inning was an absolute disaster for CSUF, as the Titan bullpen gave up three runs to put the game out of reach.
Fullerton made three errors on the night as well, a recurring mistake that Vanderhook had hoped would be solved by now.
“The team is just not playing with much confidence right now, I think that’s the biggest reason for what happened tonight,” Wiest said.
Game 3
Freshman Phil Bickford used a career-long outing on the mound along with a balanced Titan offensive effort to earn a 4-2 victory in the rubber match of the weekend series on Sunday. Bickford threw six innings, allowing just two runs on four hits, walking only two batters while striking out seven. His seven strikeouts also matched a career-high for the highly-touted freshman.
Matt Chapman paced the offense with his two hits, including a clutch RBI double that put CSUF ahead once and for all, in the sixth inning. After hitting third in the lineup for the first two games of the series, Chapman was placed in the leadoff role where he seemed to thrive on Sunday.
The offense that struggled so mightily against the Gaels on Saturday seemed more rejuvenated in the final game of the series, earning 10 walks at the plate to go along with their six hits. Davis, Tyler Stieb and Clay Williamson all added an RBI for the Fullerton offensive effort.
While the Titans were able to get back on track by winning the series, it is clear there is still work to be done on offense and defense.
Defense has failed the preseason No. 1 ranked team, which made eight errors in the three-game series, allowing their opponents from the West Coast Conference to stick around in games.
The Titans will take on the University of Nevada at Las Vegas on Tuesday at Goodwin Field, where CSUF will try and get a new win streak started.