Cal State Fullerton beats Columbia, 4-1, at NCAA regional

Cal State Fullerton took the first step Friday night toward what it hopes will be a return to the College World Series, defeating Columbia, 4-1, by using a familiar and simple formula:

Score early and ride stellar pitching the rest of the way.

Titans right-hander Grahamm Wiest delivered his best performance of the season, pitching a three-hitter, his first complete game of the year. And third baseman Matt Chapman homered, drove in two runs and scored twice for the Titans.

“We’re good at formulating a plan and sticking to it,” Chapman said.

Coming into the NCAA regional they are hosting this weekend at Goodwin Field, the Titans — seeded fifth overall in the NCAA tournament — had outscored opponents 60-15 in the first inning and were 33-3 when scoring first.

That pattern continued in the first inning Friday when shortstop Richy Pedroza, batting in the leadoff spot, was hit by a pitch, stole second base and scored on an RBI single by Chapman. Later in the inning, designated hitter J.D. Davis drove home Chapman with a sacrifice fly to center field, and the Titans had a 2-0 lead.

His next time up, in the fourth, Chapman crushed a home run over the left-field wall. Later in the inning second baseman Jake Jefferies brought Davis home with a ground out to shortstop to make it 4-1.

Wiest took the reins from there. He gave up a solo home run to Columbia third baseman David Vandercook in the second inning, but otherwise did not allow a runner to reach second base. The redshirt sophomore from Orange retired the last 11 batters he faced.

“I thought Grahamm threw strikes,” Fullerton Coach Rick Vanderhook said. “He gave away one free base but we did what we do every game.”

Earlier Friday, Arizona State squeezed past New Mexico 4-3 behind 72/3 solid innings from Rancho Bernardo High product Trevor Williams.

Second baseman James McDonald broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth with a two-run line-drive home run that barely cleared the right-field wall. But it was all the Sun Devils needed.

In the top of the eighth, New Mexico catcher Mitch Garver hit his sixth home run of the year to cut the lead to 4-3. Closer Ryan Burr relieved Williams and recorded four outs for the save, striking out New Mexico third baseman Alex Allbritton with the tying and go-ahead runners aboard.

Cal State Fullerton (49-8) will take on Arizona State in the winners’ bracket Saturday at 8 p.m. at Goodwin Field. Columbia and New Mexico will meet at 4 p.m. The Titans will send Big West pitcher of the year Justin Garza (11-0, 2.08 ERA) to the mound with a chance to advance to Sunday’s regional final.

andrew.gastelum@latimes.com

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