April 6, 2014

Box Score

FULLERTON, Calif. -- Five Cal State Fullerton pitchers combined on a five-hitter Sunday afternoon, helping the host and No. 18-ranked Titans to a series-clinching 9-1 victory over visiting UC Davis in front of 1,939 fans at Goodwin Field.

The loss evened the Aggies' record at 14-14 overall and dropped them to 1-5 in the Big West Conference, while Fullerton won its league-opening series in improving to 16-11 and 2-1 in conference.

Freshman Phil Bickford (3-1) earned the win for the Titans, allowing just two hits, walking three, and striking out six in six shutout innings. Senior right-hander Evan Wolf (2-3) suffered the loss for UC Davis, charged with five runs (two earned) on five hits, walking a pair and striking out two in 6.1 innings of work.

UC Davis had its chances on the day, leaving nine runners on base -- seven of those in scoring position -- but could not muster much against the Fullerton staff, which held the Aggies scoreless until the seventh while the offense jumped out to a 5-0 lead.

Spencer Brann and Austin March led-off the inning with back-to-back singles against reliever Tyler Peitzmeier, and UC Davis loaded the bases when Tino Lipson drew a walk to give Peitzmeier the early hook. Willie Kuhl entered from the bullpen and promptly walked Seth Batty on five pitches, driving home Brann for the Aggies' only run of the game.

Kuhl then worked away from any further damage, getting a strikeout, lineout, and ground ball to end the inning.

Kevin Barker added a single in the fourth -- his team-best 37th hit of the season, helping him reaching base safely for the ninth consecutive game -- and Nick Lynch doubled in the sixth for UC Davis' other hits.

The Titans' offense, which had averaged fewer than four runs per game over its last 10 contests, exploded for a second-straight game, scoring nine runs on nine hits -- all coming over the course of three innings on Sunday.

Following an error that prolonged the inning, Matt Chapman's three-run home run in the third gave Fullerton the early lead, and the Titans tacked on two more on Keegan Dale's two-run single in the fourth. Three straight run-scoring hits in the eighth capped the scoring for Fullerton, which had three players finish with multiple hits on the day led by J.D. Davis' 3-for-4 outing.

The road does not get any easier for the Aggies, who head down the road to Palo Alto to take on Stanford in a mid-week clash on Tuesday (April 8) at 6 p.m. at Sunken Diamond. UC Davis then welcomes Long Beach State for a three-game Big West series at Dobbins Stadium on April 11-13.

Cal State Fullerton 9, UC Davis 1 (Apr 06, 2014 at Fullerton, Calif.)
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UC Davis........................ 000 000 100 - 1 4 3 (14-14, 1-5)
Cal State Fullerton...... 003 200 04X - 9 9 1 (16-11, 2-1)
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Pitchers: UC Davis - Wolf, Evan; Razo, Orlando(7); Stone, Zach(8); Henderson, Spencer(8); Mullins, Justin(8) and Brann, Spencer. Cal State Fullerton - Bickford, Phil; Peitzmeier, Tyler (7); Kuhl, Willie (7); Gauna, Koby (8); Stillwagon, Shane(9) and Deacon, Jared; Kennedy, A.J. (9).
Win-Bickford, P.(3-1) Loss-Wolf, Evan(2-3) T-3:01 A-1939
HR CSF - Chapman, M. (4).
Weather: 79, Sunny, 6 mph NW