Long Beach State gets to Seabold early and tops Cal State Fullerton in Super Regional opener

Reporting from Long Beach —  Connor Seabold had gone nine straight starts and 69 days, spanning three months, without experiencing anything but victory. But a familiar pattern for beating the Cal State Fullerton junior ace resurfaced in the opening game of the Long Beach Super Regional on Friday at Blair Field.

The host Dirtbags scored three runs on three hits and two walks in the opening inning on their way to a 3-0 baseball victory to move one win from reaching the College World Series for the first time since 1998.

Seabold, meanwhile, is one defeat from the end of a notable college career, capped by an 11-5 season in which he earned All-American honors. The 6-foot-3 Newport Harbor High product will likely be selected in the Major League Baseball Draft that begins Monday, allowing him to embark on a professional career.

Seabold’s collegiate swan song went south quickly Friday, as had been the case in three of his four previous losses. He settled down to blank the Big West Conference champions into the seventh, when he exited with one out having thrown 101 pitches.

But RBI doubles by Titans Ramsey Romano and Luke Rasmussen, as well as an RBI single by Lucas Tancas, were enough to saddle Seabold with the loss, his 15^th against 21 wins as a Titan.

Seabold allowed four runs in the third inning of a 6-1 loss at UNLV on Feb. 24, allowed five runs in the first three innings of a 7-4 loss at Houston on March 3, and surrendered three runs in the second inning of a 3-2 defeat at UC Riverside on March 31.

He also gave up three runs in the second inning in a no-decision at Long Beach State on March 24 and allowed four runs in the third inning of a game in which he earned the win at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on April 21.

Those eight ineffective innings produced 22 runs (20 earned), more than half of the 43 runs Seabold allowed in his 122 2/3 innings in 2017.

“I thought Seabold was a little all over the place in the first inning,” Cal State Fullerton coach Rick Vanderhook said. “After that, it was straight zeroes all the way through for everybody.”

Seabold, who came in having issued just 19 walks with 116 strikeouts, got ahead of Dirtbags leadoff hitter Jarren Duran 0-2 to open the game. But Duran worked a nine-pitch walk that sparked the game-winning rally.

Seabold allowed seven hits, walked three and struck out four in 5 1/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season.

“Seabold [came in with a 2.91 ERA that is now 3.09], so this was not a fluke,” Long Beach State coach Troy Buckley said. “He gives up about [three] earned runs a game, and we happened to get three in the first inning.”

Titans’ junior pitcher Jack Pabich, an Orange Coast College transfer, allowed one hit in 2 2/3 scoreless relief innings and the Titans loaded the bases with one out in the ninth inning.

But Dirtbags’ closer Chris Rivera struck out the side, including Corona del Mar High product Hunter Cullen with one out and the bases loaded, to earn his 13^th save.

Junior right fielder Brock Lundquist, a graduate of Fountain Valley High, was one for four as seven Dirtbags had at least one hit and all nine reached base.

OCC product Chris Prescott, a junior left fielder for the Titans, doubled in three at-bats.

Local product Dillon Persinger (Fountain Valley High and Golden West College) was hitless in three at-bats with two strikeouts and was hit by a pitch.

Cullen was zero for four.

Eli Villalobos, another Golden West transfer, struck out the first batter he faced, then gave up a double in his eighth-inning relief appearance for the winners.

Junior starter Darren McCaughan allowed two hits and fanned seven in seven innings to improve to 8-2 and give Long Beach six wins in seven games against Fullerton this season.

The best-of-three series continues Saturday at noon.

barry.faulkner@latimes.com

Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5