Feb. 25, 2006

Box Score

Fullerton, Calif. - A wild pitch by UCLA's Dave Huff (1-2) brought home Justin Turner with the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning as No. 9 Cal State Fullerton went on to beat the Bruins, 3-1, in a non-conference baseball game Saturday night at Goodwin Field.

The Titans captured their third straight series, and improve to 7-4 on the year, while UCLA drops its second in a row, falling to 5-8.

Lauren Gagnier (3-1) went a career-high eight innings, striking out a career-high eight Bruins, to earn his third victory. He allowed just one lone run in the fifth inning on a Sean Smith RBI-single, one of six total hits on the night for the Bruins. Gagnier retired 10 of the last 12 batters he faced, and lowered his overall ERA to 3.18.

Huff pitched well enough to win before running into trouble in the eighth. He struck out five Titans, also allowing just six hits before being lifted after 7.2 innings. Huff earned the loss and fell to 1-2.

Turner extended his hitting streak to 10 games as he led off the eighth with a double to left field and was then followed by a Blake Davis infield hit. Brett Pill followed with a successful sacrifice bunt, moving both runners into scoring position for David Cooper. Turner crossed the plate on the wild pitch, moving Davis to third, allowing him to score on a grounder by Cooper to second baseman Smith.

Cooper also knocked in the other Titan run in the third inning with a single to center off Huff, prolonging his hitting streak to a season-long 11 games.

Junior closer Vinnie Pestano converted his third save opportunity, despite hitting the first batter he faced in the top of the ninth.

The two squads will meet up again Sunday at 1:00 p.m. for the series finale at Goodwin Field. Dustin Miller (1-1, 4.50 ERA) will get his first start since June 8, 2003 (Fullerton Super Regional) for the Titans while Tyson Brummett (1-2, 4.05 ERA) will go for UCLA.