The Dirtbags came into the weekend looking to get their first series win against Fullerton since 2008.
The No. 12 Titans (13-8) had other ideas, winning two of three over the Dirtbags (11-11) in a nonconference series at Goodwin Field in Fullerton.
The Dirtbags lost 5-1 Friday night despite tagging CSUF’s best pitcher for 10 hits. Titan ace Thomas Eshelman, who is considered one of the top pitchers in the country, gave up all 10 hits, including three to leadoff hitter Colby Brenner. However, he allowed one unearned run and only needed 98 pitches to throw his second complete game of the season.
The Dirtbags lone run came in the first, which Brenner led off with a single and a steal. He reached third on an error and was driven in on a sacrifice fly by Garrett Hampson.
Dirtbags’ starter Nick Sabo allowed five runs in five innings for his second loss of the season. He gave up a leadoff home run to CSUF third baseman Matt Chapman, who drove in three runs in the game. Logan Lombana and Nick Rossetta came on in relief of Sabo and kept CSUF off the board, but LBSU couldn’t get anything going off Eshelman, last year’s Collegiate Baseball Freshman Pitcher of the Year.
The Dirtbags bounced back in game two, defeating the Titans 3-2 for their first win over CSUF since May 2012.
Hampson led the charge for the Dirtbags on offense, smacking two doubles and scoring the first two runs for Long Beach.
Andrew Rohrbach took the hill for the Dirtbags and allowed only three hits in the game. He allowed the two runs to score after a walk and a hit-by-pitch set up a two-run double for CSUF first baseman J.D. Davis.
Ino Patron, who drove Hampson in to tie the game at two, scored the winning run in the sixth on an error by Titans center fielder Austin Diemer. Diemer dropped what should have been a routine fly ball off the bat of Michael Hill, which allowed Patron to score and gave the Dirtbags a 3-2 victory.
Rohrbach went six solid innings and was relieved by Ty Provencher and Kyle Friedrichs, who combined to allow one hit over three innings. They were bailed out by a pair of diving catches, one by Hill, which saved a run and one by Brenner that ended the game.
However, Fullerton won the series with a 6-5 victory on Sunday.
The Titans touched up Dirtbags starter Jason Alexander for four runs in the second inning and six total. Alexander was pulled after only three innings.
The Dirtbags fought back with scoring singles by Daniel Jackson and Colton Vaughn. A fielder’s choice made the game 6-3, which was the score until the ninth inning.
Davis, who also serves as a closer for the Titans, gave up singles to Richard Prigatano and Zack Belanger. Nolan Meadows doubled to left center to bring the deficit to one, but Davis got Alex Bishop to ground out to second to end the ball game.
The Dirtbags travel to UCLA to take on the defending national champion Bruins on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.