Box Score FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton overcame a three-run deficit in the seventh inning to eventually force extras before falling to UC San Diego 9-7 in the 11th inning Friday night at Goodwin Field. The Titans drop to 5-12 on the year and 0-4 in Big West play.
The Titans took an early lead over the Tritons, scoring two runs in the first coming off of a team-leading fifth home run from Matthew Bardowell. With Andrew Kirchner on second, Bardowell hammered a ball to left center to put the Titans up 2-0.
Fullerton would give up the lead after a two-run top of the third inning by UC San Diego to bring the score to 2-2.
The Titans had an immediate answer, scoring one run in the bottom half of the third on an RBI double from Bardowell to take a 3-2 lead. With two outs Kirchner kept the inning alive with a double to set up Bardowell to record his third RBI of the game.
Bardowell had another strong game at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two runs, three RBI, a walk and a hit by pitch. The senior leads the team with a .386 batting average.
Carter Johnstone and Eli Lopez flashed their leather in the fourth inning. Both infielders made impressive diving snags to stop the ball from going into the outfield for a base hit before throwing out the runner at first.
The Titans added an additional run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a bunt single by Jakob Schardt to bring home Max Ortega from third and give the Titans a 4-2 lead. With Ortega on third and one out, Schardt looked to sacrifice himself on a bunt, however, the UCSD first baseman grabbed the ball before it went foul and missed Schardt on the tag.
Fullerton was able to get to UCSD's starter Matthew Dalquist who came into the game with a 1.14 ERA. Dalquist allowed four runs on eight hits in his five innings pitched.
Crooked numbers hurt the Titans yet again as UC San Diego scored five runs in the sixth inning to take a 7-4 lead.
The Titans looked to get right back in the game in the home half of the sixth, loading the bases with two outs, however, they were unable to cash in and left the bases loaded. The Titans left a total of 15 runners on base Friday night.
As it has all season, the team showed no quit and came storming back with three runs in the seventh inning to tie the game at 7-7.
Bardowell led-off the inning with a hit by pitch followed by a base hit from Paul Contreras and a walk drawn by Maddox Latta to load the bases with no outs. Ortega then hit a hard ground ball off the shortstop for an RBI single to drive in Bardowell and get the first run of the inning across.
Jakob Schard followed with a sacrifice fly on a foul ball to deep left field, scoring Contreras and bringing the Titans within one run.
With runners on first and second and two outs, Cam Burdick came through with a single to center field to score Latta and tie the game at 7-7.
Andrew Wright pitched the ninth and 10th inning for the Titans and worked his way in and out of a bases loaded jam in each inning to keep the game tied at 7-7. Wright allowed just one hit in 2.1 innings pitched while walking three batters and striking out three.
UC San Diego broke the tie in the top of the 11th inning on a two-run double off the wall in left field to take a 9-7 lead.
Fullerton looked to start a two-out rally in the 11th with a walk drawn by Isaiah Gomez and a base hit from Marcos Rosales but the Titans left them stranded at first and second to end the game.
Jason Blood drew the loss and falls to 1-2 on the year after giving up two runs in the 11th on two hits while walking one and striking out two batters. Garrett Davidson earned the win for UCSD, allowing two hits in 1.2 innings pitched while walking two batters.
The Titans look to bounce back in game two of the series Saturday evening at Goodwin Field. First pitch is set for 5:00 p.m.
SUPPORT THE TITANS!
Fans can purchase tickets for various Cal State Fullerton athletic events by visiting
FullertonTitansTickets.com. The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 657-278-2783 or by email at
athletictixs@fullerton.edu.
FOLLOW THE TITANS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (
Facebook/FullertonTitans), X (
@FullertonTitans) Instagram (
@FullertonTitans), YouTube (
FullertonTitansAthletics) and TikTok (
@FullertonTitans).In addition, the baseball team has established its own Instagram (@
fullertonbsb), X (@
FullertonBSB) and TikTok (
@fullertonbsb).
WATCH THE TITANS ON ESPN+
Titans fans can now watch every home event exclusively on
ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a top-tier production studio to give the viewers an ESPN quality production for all games at Titan Stadium. Additionally, all schools in the Big West Conference are committed to producing ESPN quality streams which will allow fans to watch the Titans on
ESPN+ for all road conference games.
