COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Titans Rally With 7 Runs in Ninth

After already watching some of college baseball’s best teams--including his own--Augie Garrido came to this startling conclusion: “I don’t think any of us have played very well.”

But that didn’t stop the Cal State Fullerton coach from enjoying his team’s turning a tight ballgame into a blowout as the Titans defeated Florida State, 13-6, Sunday afternoon in Tallahassee, Fla.

The sixth-ranked Titans (6-4) scored seven runs with two outs in the ninth inning to break open a 6-6 game. Pinch-hitting freshman Scott Allen, in his first collegiate at-bat, delivered a bases-loaded bunt single to begin the scoring fest as Seminole reliever Phil Olson all but caved in.

The victory helped Fullerton take the three-game series after losing the opener, 3-2. Florida State, ranked 23rd, falls to 8-2.

In these early days of the season with a young team, Garrido wasn’t terribly surprised by the comeback. He was just happy the Titans, who have already played Stanford, Texas and Loyola Marymount, keep learning their lessons.

“I think we’re all a lot alike,” Garrido said of college baseball’s top teams. “I don’t think any of us have played well. I just think the timing is off for the athletes. It doesn’t look like they can handle the pressure situations right now, and that’s just experience.”

But Garrido isn’t ready to look a gift rally in the mouth, especially after Florida State tied the score with four runs in the bottom of the eighth. Those runs helped overcome the Titans’ two-run rally in the top of the eighth.

“When they came off the field in the eighth with the score tied, I’ve seen lots of times where the chins were dragging and the gloves were down,” Garrido said. “If anything, they responded more positively. Some of that, at least, is attitude.”

It’s an attitude that filtered all the way down to Allen, who hadn’t played until the ninth.

“(The Seminoles) came off the field thinking they were ahead after the inning,” Allen said. “But we didn’t come back into the dugout thinking we were behind.”

No, but they sure looked behind after Olson retired the first two batters in the ninth. Then, the fireworks began.

Dante Powell reached on a bunt and Tony Banks, who had homered in the fourth, drew a walk. Adam Millan’s infield single loaded the bases, setting up Allen’s dramatics.

His bunt trickled down near the third-base line, and Olson’s throw was a split-second too late.

“I thought I had it once I bunted the ball,” Allen said.

Said Olson: “I kind of took my time on it. Of course, he beats it, and then all heck breaks loose.”

Kyle Evans followed with a two-run single, and after Bret Hemphill’s walk loaded the bases, Nate Rodriguez slapped another two-run single. Jeff Ferguson followed with a two-run double, and the Titans had a major cushion.

Four Titan pitchers held Florida State to its season-low five hits, with Kimson Hollibaugh (1-2) throwing the final two innings for the victory.

The Seminoles used five pitchers, with Olson (1-1) taking the loss.

In other nonconference baseball:

Gonzaga 6-5, Chapman 4-3 (first game, seven innings)--Chapman (7-9) was swept at Hart Park in Orange. Octavio Medina had three hits and scored two runs in the two games for Chapman.