FULLERTON – With one out in the bottom of the 14th inning just past midnight Sunday morning, Hank LoForte slid underneath the tag at home on a wild pitch to give No. 14 Cal State Fullerton baseball a 3-2 walk-off victory and the series-clinching win over UC Irvine.
“I saw it bounce and I was like, ‘I’m going to try to end this thing,’” LoForte said. “Luckily, I got my hand in and we finally won.”
The Titans had several opportunities to put the game away. In the 13th inning, CSUF had the bases loaded with one out, but Timmy Richards and Taylor Bryant couldn’t get anything to work. They both struck out swinging to end the inning.
“Oh, you have no idea. We were so frustrated,” LoForte said. “We were trying rallies, trash pickups, everything, but it finally worked out.”
While LoForte’s walk-off steal was the most important play of the game, the most impressive play was right fielder Hunter Cullen’s diving catch to save a double in the top of the sixth inning. So impressive that it was No. 9 on SportsCenter’s top 10 plays Saturday night.
CSUF followed up its walk-off victory early Sunday morning with a 12-4 blowout loss to the Anteaters to snap its 15-game winning streak at Goodwin Field.
Fullerton took the first game of the series 5-3 behind a go-ahead RBI single to left field by Bryant to score Sahid Valenzuela from second in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Pitching back in form
After struggling to keep runners from crossing the plate the last two weeks, the Titans’ pitching staff returned to their dominant form. Other than Gavin Velasquez, who struggled mightily in his start Sunday afternoon. Velasquez allowed 10 hits and seven earned runs in just four innings of work.
Friday’s starter Connor Seabold allowed a season-high 12 hits but only gave up three runs in the Titans 5-3 victory.
“He pitched in really good tonight. They probably had 12 hits and six of them didn’t go 400 feet combined,” Vanderhook said.
Reliable closer Brett Conine followed up Seabold’s 7.1 inning performance by finishing the Anteaters off without giving up a hit and striking out two batters. Conine now ranks second in the Big West with nine saves.
Fullerton used a combination of John Gavin, Blake Workman and Jack Pabich to get the 3-2 victory in game two. Workman stole the show, going a career-high six innings pitched while giving up two hits and no runs while striking out five.
After the ninth inning, Workman wasn’t sure if he would continue on the mound but was determined to help the Titans seal a victory.
“My coach came up to me, Hooky, and said, ‘Alright, you’re done,’ and I looked at him and said, ‘You’re going to have to wrestle that ball out of my hand, I’m not coming out,’” Workman said.
The Titans return to action Friday at 9:35 p.m. when they travel to Hawaii for a matchup with the Rainbow Warriors.
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