COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Whitaker Gets 16 Strikeouts as Long Beach Defeats Irvine

Junior Steve Whitaker tied a Cal State Long Beach single-game record with 16 strikeouts as the 49ers defeated UC Irvine, 13-1, in a Big West Conference baseball game Sunday in Long Beach.

Whitaker, a left-handed transfer from Merced College, improved to 9-1 as he pitched a six-hitter for Long Beach (24-13, 10-2 in conference). Whitaker tied the mark set earlier this season by Steve Trachsel, a junior from Fullerton College. Trachsel had 16 strikeouts March 23 against Hartford University.

Joe Sewell (4-5) took the loss for Irvine, which lost its 11th consecutive conference game. The Anteaters are 19-27, 1-11.

Alan Burke had four hits, scored two runs and drove in two more and Scott Talanoa, a junior from Orange Coast, had two hits and two RBIs for Long Beach.

The 49ers scored one run in the second and five more in the third to take a 6-0 lead.

In another Big West Conference game:

Nevada Las Vegas 7, Cal State Fullerton 6--Frank Charles hit his sixth home run to open the ninth, cutting the deficit to 7-6, but the Titans couldn’t get another runner on base in their loss in Las Vegas.

Fullerton led, 5-4, after six innings, but the Rebels (25-16, 8-4) scored once in the seventh to tie it and twice more in the eighth on RBI singles by Tim Johnson and Ricky Scruggs.

Chris Robinson (2-3) took the loss in relief for Fullerton (24-19, 7-5). Steve Sisco had three hits, scored a run and drove in another and Phil Nevin had a two-run single.