LA JOLLA, Calif. – With the season on the line, Cal State Fullerton defeated UC San Diego 10-5 in the series finale to earn a spot in The Big West Championship. The Titans end the regular season with a 23-30 record and 15-15 Big West record to earn the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament.Â
The Titans got off to a strong start they needed with their backs against the wall, scoring one run in the top of the first inning on a solo home run by Paul Contreras. The junior's 13th home run is the most by a Titan in a single since 2010 when Christian Colon hit 17.Â
UC San Diego answered with two runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 2-1 lead.Â
The Titans countered with two runs of their own in the top of the third to regain the lead, 3-2. Nick Miller led-off the inning with a double before Esteban Olazaba drove him in with a single through the right side of the infield.Â
Following a Paul Contreras single and a Cameron Kim fly out that got Olazaba to third, Andrew Kirchner hit a sacrifice fly to bring home the freshman and give Fullerton a 3-2 lead.Â
Including the third inning, Fullerton rattled off four consecutive innings with at least one run to take a commanding 9-2 lead.Â
In the fourth inning, the Titans scored on a fielder's choice by Nick Miller that brought home Hunter Meyer from third. Meyer led-off the inning with a double before a one-out single by Cam Burdick pushed him to third.Â
The Titans added one more run in the fifth to take a 5-2 lead on a productive infield out by Max Ortega that scored Contreras. Contreras started the inning with a double before advancing to third on a groundout.Â
Fullerton blew the game open in the sixth inning with four runs to take a 9-2 advantage. With runners on second and third, Olazaba singled up the middle to bring home Miller and Burdick and make it a 7-2 game. Olazaba went 2-for-5 with two runs and three RBI.Â
With a runner at first and one out, Contreras smashed a two-run home run to right center field for his second of the game and 14th of the season. Contreras, who could barely run the bases, went 5-for-5 with three runs, two home runs and three RBI.Â
UC San Diego scored two runs in the eighth inning to cut Fullerton's lead to 9-4. Dylan Smith did a great job limiting the damage to just two runs after a couple defensive mistakes led to bases loaded with no outs, and bases loaded again later in the inning with two outs.Â
Smith had a gutsy outing on the mound for the Titans when they needed it most, pitching eight innings while giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits while walking two and striking out four. Smith threw a career-high 122 pitches.
The Titans got one run back in the top of the ninth on a solo home run by Kim, his fifth of the year, to extend the lead to 10-5.Â
UC San Diego scored one run in the bottom of the ninth to cut the Titans lead to 10-6. After throwing 69 pitches Friday night, Andrew Wright came on to close out the game with one out and a runner on. Wright recorded two consecutive outs to seal the win for Fullerton.Â
The Titans turn their attention to the play-in game against No. 4 seed Hawaii in The Big West Championship Wednesday at Cicerone Field on the campus of UC Irvine. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. PT.
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