Popoff Struggles but Manages to Get Titans Past UNLV, 5-1

FULLERTON —  His fastball didn’t have its usual zip. His curveball didn’t have much snap to it. His knuckleball didn’t fool many batters, and his changeup kind of stayed the same.

But Cal State Fullerton’s James Popoff still had enough to defeat Nevada Las Vegas, battling his way through a less-than-sparkling performance to lead the host Titans to a 5-1 victory Saturday.

Fullerton scored one run in the first inning and another in the second before breaking the game open with three in the seventh.

Steve Sisco had a bases-empty home run in the second and Domingo Mota, Frank Charles, Paul Bunch and Rich Gonzales each had two hits to help the first-place Titans (24-16 and 7-1 in the Big West) win their sixth-consecutive game.

Popoff, a sophomore right-hander, was one out away from a complete-game seven-hitter when he gave way to Chris Robinson, who retired Casey Clements on a fielder’s choice with two runners on in the ninth.

Popoff (7-3) walked three and hit a batter. He fell behind on the count often and relied on his defense to get him out of a few jams.

“I didn’t have my best stuff today,” Popoff said. “The key was making good pitches, staying in control and keeping motivated. I had to get angry at myself sometimes to make the pitches I had to make.”

The Rebels (24-17, 5-6) failed to execute a few fundamentals and couldn’t take advantage of several scoring opportunities.

A fielding error allowed Titan leadoff hitter Phil Nevin to reach first in the first inning, and another error, this one on Mate Borgogno’s sacrifice bunt, allowed Nevin to advance to third. He scored on Gonzales’ sacrifice fly.

UNLV right fielder Tim Johnson came within two feet of a two-run home run when he bounced a double off the fence in the fifth, but center fielder Mota played the ball perfectly and his throw to the infield prevented Derek Freeman from scoring. Both runners were stranded when Clements flied to right.

UNLV finally scored on Shawn Murphy’s looping single to center in the eighth, but the Rebels left two runners on when Steve Cerio struck out to end the inning. They had runners on first and third when the game ended.

“We didn’t want the tying run to come to the plate in the ninth,” said Fullerton Coach Larry Cochell, who has seen his team blow its share of late-inning leads. “James was done, really. We weren’t going to let it get away from us, and that’s why we brought Robinson in.”

Fullerton had some breathing room thanks to its three-run outburst in the seventh. Nevin walked and, after Borgogno’s fielder’s choice, the Titans had four consecutive hits for three runs.

Gonzales singled and scored on Bunch’s double to right. Bunch scored on Charles’ single and Sisco drove in Charles with a double to right center. The Titans had 12 hits in the game.

“Everyone is swinging the bat well,” Cochell said. “No one guy is carrying us. We still have a long way to go in the conference, but if we continue to play good, consistent baseball, if we play good defense and get good pitching, we have a chance.”