Feb. 4, 2006

Box Score

Palo Alto, Calif. - John Hester brought home the wining run for Stanford when reliever Bryan Harris failed to come set, resulting in a game-winning balk for the Cardinal as Cal State Fullerton was downed 6-5 in game two of the weekend baseball series Saturday afternoon at Sunken Diamond. Fullerton, who won the opening game of 2005 Super Regional against Arizona State the same way, sat on the losing end this year of the decisive call.

No. 5 Fullerton drops its early-season record to 0-2, with Stanford improving to 2-0. The Titans' troubles continue in Palo Alto as they fall to 2-14 at Sunken Diamond since 1996 and 35-47 all-time against the Cardinal.

Fullerton tied the game at 5-5 in the seventh inning when freshman Cardinal reliever, Sean Ratliff (1-0), uncorked a wild pitch with a runner at third, but settled down to finish the game and earn his first collegiate victory. The lanky lefty pitched 3.2 scoreless innings striking out six Titans.

Harris (0-1), walked Hester to leadoff the tenth, and picked up the loss when he later came across to score the winning run.

Neither team's starter lasted very long as the Titans knocked out Matt Manship after just 3.1 innings, while the Cardinal took care of Jared Clark in the same amount of time.

Clark allowed five earned runs on five hits, including a pair of home runs by Austin Yount, a two-run shot, and a solo blast by freshman Jason Castro. The Cardinal knock Clark out after back-to-back extra-base hits by Ryan Seawell (double) and RBI-triple by Yount. He was replaced by freshman Cory Arbiso who shut down the Cardinal for 3.1 innings.

The Titans sent eight hitters to the plate in the fourth, scoring four times on five hits, to force Stanford Head Coach Mark Marquess to replace Manship. Justin Turner and Brett Pill each doubled while Blake Davis, John Curtis, Clark Hardman and Evan McArthur each added RBIs.

Jim Rapoport, Hester and Yount each collected a pair of hits with the third baseman Yount leading all players with three RBI.

Titan senior Left Fielder Danny Dorn paced the field with three hits on the day.

Arbiso and John Estes pitched 4.2 scoreless innings in relief, scattering five hits and striking out two.

The two teams will conclude their annual series Sunday with Lauren Ganier tabbed to go for the Titans and Matt Leva for the Cardinal. Listen in on www.fullertontitans.com and KSPA AM 1510 as the first pitch is slated for 1:00 p.m.