COLLEGE ROUNDUP : USC Slips Past Cal State Fullerton in Ninth, 6-5

Jeff Cirillo had an RBI single in the ninth inning to give USC a 6-5 victory over Cal State Fullerton Tuesday in a nonconference baseball game at Titan Field.

Danny Gil opened the ninth with a double off Fullerton pitcher Matt Watson. Watson (1-5) struck out the next two hitters before Cirillo hit a slow roller through the left side.

Fullerton had two runners on with two out in the ninth, but Eric Hughes got Matt Hattabaugh to fly out to center. Hughes (2-2) did not allow a run over the final two innings for the victory.

Fullerton starter Huck Flener allowed four runs in 2/3 of an inning and USC (28-11) added another run in the third to take a 5-2 lead.

Fullerton scored two in the second and three in the fifth.

In the fifth, Phil Nevin led off with a double for the Titans (18-16). Rich Gonzales had an RBI single and scored on Paul Bunch’s double. Bunch went to third on a passed ball and scored on a squeeze by Hattabaugh.

In another nonconference baseball game:

U.S. International 12, UC Irvine 6--Jon Damush had three hits, scored two runs and drove in another and Chris Gallego had three hits and two RBIs for visiting Irvine (23-17). USIU is 10-31.

In Golden State Athletic Conference baseball:

Cal Baptist 6, Southern California College 5--Tim Lopez hit a two-run single in the eighth inning and visiting Cal Baptist (25-8, 10-3) moved into first place in the conference. Denny Berni, who went three for four, hit a two-run homer in the fifth to tie the score, 4-4, and singled in a run in the seventh to give SCC (21-14, 9-4) a 5-4 lead.

In nonconference softball:

Christ College Irvine 5-0, Occidental 0-3--Lisa Merenda (11-8) pitched a four-hitter and Kathy Carroll had three hits and four RBIs in the first game for host Christ College Irvine (21-19).