SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The Titans battled back from an 8-1 deficit to force extra innings before ultimately dropping the Big West opener to Cal Poly by a final score of 10-9 Friday night at Baggett Stadium. With the loss the Titans drop to 4-9 on the year and 0-1 Big West play. 

Fullerton trailed by seven runs (8-1) after five innings of play. Cal Poly jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning. 

The Titans came back to score one run in the top of the second inning on an RBI single by Jakob Schardt to score Max Ortega from second base. 

Cal Poly extended its lead in the fifth, scoring three runs in the inning on a two-run home run and an RBI groundout. 

Down seven runs the Titans kept battling before exploding for six runs in the seventh inning to cut the deficit to just one run, 8-7. 

Matthew Bardowell and Carter Johnstone began the rally with back-to-back one-out singles. Following a Cam Burdick walk to load the bases, Eli Lopez hit a hard ground ball to the shortstop for an RBI base hit. 

The next batter, Andrew Kirchner, singled through the middle of the infield to drive in Johnstone and Burdick to cut the deficit to 8-4. Kirchner went 2-for-5 while extended his conference-leading RBI to 23. 

Following an Ortega hit by pitch, Schardt hit a bases clearing double to right field to bring the Titans within one run, 8-7. Schardt had one of his best games of the season at the plate, going 3-for-6 while tying his career-high with four RBI. 

Fullerton scored one run in the eighth inning on an RBI triple by Lopez with two outs to bring home Johnstone and tie the game at 8-8. Johnstone led-off the inning with a triple, however the next two batters recorded outs before Lopez stepped up for the Titans. 

Marcos Rosales was drilled with a pitch with one out, appearing to give the Titans runners on first and third with one out. However, the umpire called him out after claiming he leaned into the pitch. 

The Titans took the lead in the ninth inning on a run-scoring single from Bardowell to drive in Maddox Latta. Latta drew a one-out walk to get on base before stealing second to get into scoring position for Bardowell. The senior went 3-for-5 tonight with a run an an RBI and is now hitting .400 on the year which ranks eighth in The Big West. 

Cal Poly came back to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth as the leadoff batter singled before advancing home on a stolen base, and two wild pitches. 

The Mustangs walked the game off in the 11th inning, taking game one of the series 10-9. 

Fullerton looks to bounce back in game two against the Mustangs Saturday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

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