The last time the Dirtbags faced Cal State Fullerton, the Titans took a 5-1 victory to clinch the 2012 Big West Conference title.
In the first meeting between the teams this year, the faces were different, but the results were the same.
Freshman pitcher Thomas Eshelman threw seven shutout innings and gave up just one hit for CSUF (18-3) as the Titans cruised to a 6-0 win over Long Beach State (9-12) Friday night at Blair Field.
Eshelman, who hasn’t walked a batter all season, didn’t allow a runner on base until the fifth and only threw 62 pitches in seven innings.
“The efficiency was off the charts,” LBSU head coach Troy Buckley said. “Our game plan was to get into the bullpen, and [Eshelman] doesn’t walk any people, so you’ve got to be aggressive, but at the same time we weren’t very productive when we swung at the first pitch.”
The Dirtbags’ only hit off Eshelman was a single into right field by catcher Michael Hutting. LBSU didn’t strike out but flied out 12 times against Eshelman.
“We didn’t strike out against him,” Buckley said. “Part of that was because we swung the bat early in the count, but we didn’t do anything against him either.”
The Beach found itself in an early hole when preseason All-American Michael Lorenzen homered in the second inning. The Titans tacked on another run in the third and eventually put the game away with three runs in the eighth.
LBSU starting pitcher Shane Carle was tagged with the loss and is now 1-3 despite having an ERA of only 1.64.
The Dirtbags will try to even the series against CSUF tomorrow afternoon with Jake Stassi (1-1, 3.94 ERA) on the mound. The Titans will counter with another star freshman in Justin Garza, who is 5-0 with a 0.99 ERA.