FULLERTON, Calif. ā Max Ortega hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Titans a 3-2 victory over UC Santa Barbara in the series opener at Goodwin Field. With the win the Titans improve to 24-21 on the year and 15-7 in Big West play.Ā
Ahead in the count 2-0, Ortega looked for a pitch he wanted and sent the ball over the right field wall to give the Titans their first walk-off win of the season.Ā
Andrew Wright was a big reason the Titans were in position to walk the game off. The lefty came on in relief with runners at first and second and no out in the top of the ninth inning. After a sacrifice bunt by UCSB and an intentional walk, Wright recorded two strikeouts to get the Titans out of the bases loaded jam.Ā
Wright earned the win to improve to 2-2 on the year to go along with nine saves and a staggering 0.79 ERA in 34 innings pitched.Ā
The Titans once again had to battle back from an early deficit after UCSB took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a solo home run.Ā
Following a leadoff single from Contreras in the fourth, Marcos Rosales doubled to the gap in left center field to bring home Contreras to tie the game at 1-1.Ā
UC Santa Barbara answered with one run in the fourth inning to take a 2-1 lead. The Gauchos took advantage of two infield singles which led to the go-ahead run.Ā
Mikiah Negrete had one of his best starts of the season, giving up just two runs on six hits in seven innings pitched while walking just one batter and striking out eight.Ā
The Titans tied the game in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single up the middle by Maddox Latta to score Eli Lopez from third base. Lopez led-off the inning with a double, however, the Titans were down to their last out of the inning with runners on the corners when Latta came through.Ā
Ryan Faulks pitched a shutout inning in the eighth for the Titans to keep the game tied at 2-2 before Wright got out of the bases loaded jam in the ninth.Ā
Fullerton looks to carry the walk-off win's momentum into Saturday's game against UC Santa Barbara. First pitch is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. at Goodwin Field.
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