COLLEGE BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Titans Win on Ninth-Inning Homer

Matt Hattabaugh led off the bottom of the ninth by driving a ball over the center-field fence to give Cal State Fullerton a 3-2 victory over Cal State Long Beach in a Big West Conference game Friday at Amerige Park in Fullerton.

It was the second home run of the game for Hattabaugh, who also hit one in the fourth.

The homer sailed about 10 feet above the fence and left the Long Beach players stunned. They were still standing at their positions after Hattabaugh had rounded the bases.

“I was trying to hit it out,” said Hattabaugh, a senior. “I wasn’t sure if I hit it well enough, though.”

Long Beach (35-13, 10-3 in conference) had a chance to take the lead in the top half of the inning, but clutch pitching by reliever Chris Robinson helped the Titans escape.

With one out, Alan Burke and Rudy Rodriguez singled for Long Beach, leaving runners on first and third. Robinson then hit Willy Speakman to load the bases with one out.

Robinson got Lamarr Rogers to line back to him on a checked swing for the second out. Robinson, who picked up the victory, then got a third strike past Cobi Cradle to end the inning.

“He demonstrated great poise,” Titan Coach Augie Garrido said of Robinson. “He showed his experience by coming back after he made a mistake by hitting a batter.”

Robinson worked two innings of relief for starter Dan Naulty, who was helped off the mound after his sore back acted up on the final pitch of the sixth inning. He returned to pitch a scoreless seventh.

“(Robinson) did a great job and really picked the whole team up in the ninth,” Hattabaugh said. “But Naulty did a great job as well. He really hung in there.”

Fullerton (25-20, 8-5) got the leadoff runner on in the first four innings but only scored in the second and fourth.

Jason Moler walked and went to second on a single by Craig Fairbrother. Hattabaugh then tried to bunt but popped up instead. Chris Powell had an infield fly-out, but Trevor Rush’s two-out single to left scored Moler.

Moler started the fourth with a single, but Fairbrother hit into a double play. Hattabaugh then homered high over the left-field fence to give Fullerton a 2-0 lead.

“I thought it was a pop-up when I hit it,” he said. “I was surprised that it went out.”

Long Beach tied it with two runs in the fifth. Rudy Rodriguez’s double drove in one, and Cradle had an RBI single.

The teams play the second of a three-game series today at 1 p.m. at Amerige Park.

In another Big West Conference game:

UC Irvine 4, UC Santa Barbara 2--UC Irvine (20-27, 2-11) broke an 11-game conference losing streak with the victory at home. David Bladow (4-6) allowed seven hits in seven innings for the victory.