COLLEGE ROUNDUP : UC Irvine Rises Up to Shut Down Fullerton

FULLERTON —  The balance of baseball power in Orange County has been tilted to the North for some time now. Cal State Fullerton, just up the 57 Freeway from Anaheim Stadium, has been the county seat of college baseball.

Until Friday night, Fullerton had beaten UC Irvine in eight of the past nine games between the teams, and in all but 19 of the 63 games the teams have played since 1970.

But behind the finely controlled pitching performance of Ken Whitworth, who pitched a six-hit shutout, Irvine struck the first blow in this weekend’s three-game series with a 4-0 victory in front of 300 at Titan Field, marking the first time Fullerton has been shut out in the history of the series.

“You’ve got to love beating these guys,” said Whitworth, who improved his record to 8-2 and lowered his earned-run average to 2.22. “They’ve always been tough. They’ve got a couple of championship trophies here. We’ve taken it on the chin from these guys. It’s our turn now.”

The game was the Big West Conference opener for both teams, signaling the end of what has been an unusual nonconference season for both teams.

Irvine, picked to finish seventh in the conference, is 22-11 and has beaten some nationally ranked teams.

Fullerton, which won the NCAA championship in 1979 and 1984, has lost four of its past six and is 15-13.

“(Whitworth) pitched a good ballgame,” said Larry Cochell, Fullerton’s coach. “We didn’t get the base hit when we needed it. They played good defense and made all the plays.”

Fullerton’s Sam Colarusso (3-2) also pitched well, but not well enough to beat Whitworth. He allowed four runs, three of them earned, over eight innings.

Irvine got the only run it would need in the fourth inning, when Osmar DeChavez scored from third after Jon Berger hit a 3-0 pitch into shallow center. DeChavez had singled and gone to third on Mike Goodcase’s double to left. Goodcase, who tried to score on Berger’s hit, was thrown out at the plate by center fielder Paul Bunch.

Whitworth pitched 4 2/3 perfect innings before giving up a single to Steve Sisco, who went to third on Frank Charles’ single. Whitworth went to a full count on David Ayala, but struck him out swinging with a fastball down the middle.

Fullerton had another scoring opportunity in the eighth. Phil Nevin doubled to left with two out, and went to third on a wild pitch to Rich Gonzales. But on the next pitch, Whitworth got Gonzales to hit a hard shot back to the mound, which he knocked down and threw to first to end the inning.

The shutout was Irvine’s first since April 11 of last year, when Whitworth earned a 1-0 victory in a seven-inning game against Loyola Marymount, the only other shutout of his career.

Irvine took a 2-0 lead in the fifth. Ray Walker scored an unearned run on a groundout after reaching third on a single and a two-base fielding error by Bunch, who had to chase the ball to the fence in center field.

Irvine added another run in the seventh after loading the bases on a single by Billy Bardens, a double by Walker and an intentional walk. With one out, Chris Gallego hit a grounder to second, but Fullerton could turn only the first half of the double play, allowing the run to score.

Irvine scored its final run in the eighth, when Goodcase, who had walked and stolen second, beat a throw to the plate from right field after Shelby Niss singled.

In Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. play:

UC Irvine 3, Cal State Northridge 2--Steve Florentine had 22 kills and James Felton added 19 as the Anteaters (7-11, 2-11) won, 13-15, 15-8, 15-5, 9-15, 15-11, at Northridge.

In nonconference women’s softball:

Chapman 4-5, Cal State Hayward 0-0--Sandy Olivas hit two home runs and a double and drove in three runs in the second game of a doubleheader sweep for host Chapman (30-7). Shelly Mahon (8-2) allowed three hits and struck our five. In the first game, Jacki Blake (14-2) struck out eight and allowed four hits.

In Big West Conference women’s tennis:

Fresno State 7, Cal State Fullerton 2--Maria Mendez defeated Caroline Sporer, 6-1, 6-3, to lead host Fresno State (10-5, 7-2). Kelli Moore and Rosanne Alva defeated Mendez and Cecile Bowdais, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6, in doubles for Fullerton (12-11, 3-4).

In nonconference women’s tennis:

Brown 7, UC Irvine 2--Anna Sloan defeated Stacey Cadigan in No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-1, to lead visiting Brown. Kelly Goldsborough defeated Jill Dunkel, 7-6 (4), 6-4, for the only singles victory for Irvine (6-15).