Titans respond big time

FULLERTON — It was a little bit like old times Friday night for UC Irvine pitcher Wes Etheridge and Cal State Fullerton junior Matt Wallach in the second game of a Big West Conference baseball series at Goodwin Field.

But unlike last year, when Etheridge threw to Wallach as the battery for Cypress Community College, Wallach, the son of former Major Leaguer Tim Wallach, greeted Etheridge’s pitches with a bat instead of a glove.

The first of these meetings produced a three-run home run in the first inning that propelled the No. 12-ranked Titans to a 10-2 victory over the No. 23 Anteaters to even the series at one game apiece.

Wallach, who has taken over at first base after senior Jake Vasquez broke his wrist March 30 against Cal State Northridge, launched an Etheridge offering over the right-field wall to give Fullerton starter Jeff Kaplan all he would need.

Kaplan, another Orange Empire Conference product out of Irvine Valley College, worked 7 1/3 strong innings to improve to 5-2. He allowed five hits, struck out two and walked two.

Wallach’s second at-bat against Etheridge resulted in an RBI bloop single during a four-run third that put the game away.

“I knew what his pitches did and I shared that information with our guys,” Wallach said of his matchup with Etheridge. “It was good to get us a lead early.”

Etheridge, who entered the game 8-0 with a 1.23 ERA, surrendered seven earned runs on nine hits in his three innings. In 58 2/3 previous innings this season, Etheridge had allowed eight earned runs. His ERA nearly doubled to 2.19.

Kaplan held the Anteaters (22-8-1, 3-2 in conference) scoreless until the sixth, when Cody Cipriano ended UCI’s scoreless streak at 13 1/3 innings with a two-run, opposite-field home run to right field that plated Taylor Holiday. It was Cipriano’s team-leading eighth homer of the season.

Wallach, who was four for 28 heading into the series (a .143 batting average), had little trouble with UCI reliever Daniel Bibona. The left-handed batter pulled a single through the right side in the sixth for his fifth RBI of the night.

Wallach was three for three Friday after a two-for-four performance in Thursday’s series opener. He is hitting .714 against UCI pitching.

Cipriano went two for three, including a first-inning single that followed a single by Ben Orloff.

But Orloff was thrown out trying to steal second and Kaplan worked out of the jam.

Fullerton catcher John Curtis nailed Matt Morris trying to steal third to foil a second-inning UCI threat and Holiday was stranded at second after a two-out double in the third.

UCI put two runners aboard with one out in the eighth, including a pinch-hit single by Luis Tovar.

But Cipriano’s smash up the middle ricocheted off reliever Nolan Bruyninckx and into the glove of shortstop Joe Scott, who toe-tapped the second-base bag and threw to first to complete the inning-ending double play.

The Anteaters will attempt to earn the program’s first conference series win over the Titans (19-11, 4-1) today, in the finale at 1 p.m.

Clark Hardeman was three for four to bolster the Titans’13-hit attack as seven of nine Fullerton starters had at least one hit.

“I think we had a more present mindset,” Cal State Fullerton Coach George Horton said. “I think we had a sense of urgency from the first inning, instead of looking at the scoreboard.”

Big West Conference

Cal State Fullerton 10,

UC Irvine 2

Score by Innings

UCI 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 - 2 6 1

CSF 3 0 4 1 0 2 0 0 x - 10 13 0

Etheridge, Bibona (4), Lopez (7) and Lowenstein, Larson; Kaplan, Bruyninckx (8) and Curtis, Garneau. W -- Kaplan, 5-2. L -- Etheridge, 8-1. 2B -- Holiday (UCI), Hardman (CSF) 2, Fellhauer (CSF). 3B -- McArthur (CSF). HR -- Cipriano (UCI), Wallach (CSF).