April 18, 2009
Box Score
Fullerton, Calif. - Reeling off the first win over No. 6 Cal State Fullerton in seven years, the Pacific baseball team recorded its first series win ever against the Titans, taking the second game 14-10 on Saturday, April 18.
Pacific now rides a three game win streak and surpassed the overall wins from last season, improving to 15-18 on the year and 7-4 in the Big West Conference. With the loss, Cal State Fullerton fell to 23-11 overall and dropped below .500 in conference play with a 5-6 mark.
Getting the win on the mound for Pacific was senior RHP Larry Holscher (McArthur, Calif.) who came in 3.1 innings of relief for Pacific, while starter RHP Tyler Pill (6-1) took his first loss of the year for the Titans.
Down 6-5 in the top of the seventh inning, Pacific rallied from within for a 37-minute half inning that included three pitching changes for Cal State Fullerton. Senior designated hitter Joey Centanni (San Diego, Calif.) led things off for the Tigers when he roped a lead-off triple to center field on a 3-2 pitch from Pill. Sophomore J.B. Brown (Alvin, Texas) washed that down with a double in the next at-bat, easily scoring Centanni from third to tie the game a 6-6.
Travis Kelly then came in to relieve Pill as the Titans went to their bullpen for the first time of the evening, starting off by hitting senior Mike McKeever (San Diego, Calif.) to put runners on first and second. In the next at-bat, sophomore Brian Martin (Livermore, Calif.) grounded into a fielder's choice and rached first safely as McKeever was thrown out at second and Brown advanced to third on the play.
With one out in the inning, senior Kurt Wideman (Fallbrook, Calif.) ripped open the game for Pacific when he launched a triple into right center for the second three-bagger of the inning. Brown and Martin both came around to score, as Pacific took an 8-6 lead. That was it for Kelly, as Cal State Fullerton went to the bullpen again, this time bringing out Kevin Rath.
Wideman remained on third with the pitching change, and during junior Mike Walker's (Marysville, Calif.) at-bat, a wild pitch scored Wideman from third, while the Tigers enjoyed a 9-6 lead. Walker then followed through with a single to put another runner on base. Then freshman Josh Simms (La Mesa, Calif.) came to the plate and flied out to right field for the second out of the inning. The Tigers who have been familiar with two-out rallies all season long, kept plugging away offensively. Junior Ben Gorang (Turlock, Calif.) drew a full-count walk to move Walker over to second and in scoring position.
Ryan Ackland then came in as the next reliever to try and stop the Tigers' momentum, but Pacific figured it out for the second-straight night. Sophomore Nick Longmire (San Diego, Calif.) singled up the middle to score Walker from second for an RBI that brought Pacific up 10-6 on the scoreboard. That gave way for Centanni, who led off the inning, to double in his next at-bat, scoring both Gorang and Longmire, while Pacific jumped ahead 12-6 to double the Titans' score. Brown, who recorded two doubles on the night, was seen as a threat by the Titans as they intentionally walked the sophomore to put runners on first and second. The inning finally ended on a fielder's choice force out to second.
On defense, Holscher retaliated with a shut-out inning against Cal State Fullerton in the bottom of the seventh. Pacific kept the lead for the rest of the game, scoring two final runs in the eighth to take a 14-6 lead at the time, after scoring four in the sixth to come within striking distance before the highly offensive seventh inning.
The Titans went on to score two more runs in both the eighth and ninth innings, before falling 14-10 to Pacific for the Tigers' first ever series win in the two teams' all-time series meetings.
First pitch in the final game of the series is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 19.
