COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Titans Beat USC to End Skid

Adam Millan’s two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the eighth turned what would have been a frustrating defeat for Cal State Fullerton into an 8-7 victory over USC Tuesday night at Titan Field.

The Titans (27-12), coming off a three-game sweep by Cal State Long Beach, had stranded the tying run in scoring position in the fifth and seventh innings.

Dan Ricabal (7-2) was the winner. He allowed one hit and struck out five in 5 1/3 innings after replacing starter Derek Fahs.

The winning rally started with one out. Jeff Ferguson singled and took second when center fielder Walter Dawkins misplayed the ball.

Ferguson advanced to third on a wild pitch but was still there with two outs after Dante Powell popped up.

Relief pitcher Dan Hubbs intentionally walked Tony Banks, who advanced to second uncontested with Millan at the plate. With a 2-and-2 count, Millan pulled Hubbs’ slider into left field.

“It was probably out of the strike zone,” Millan said. “But I wasn’t going to take anything close. We were coming off a bad weekend and needed something to spark the team back up.”

Millan’s RBI single in the fourth inning cut USC’s lead to 7-6.

Fullerton, ranked ninth by Collegiate Baseball, led 5-0 after three innings. Fahs retired nine consecutive batters after getting the first out in the fourth. He then gave up eight consecutive hits, resulting in seven runs.

Kurt Bierek’s three-run homer cut the lead to 5-4.

Aaron Boone, former standout at Villa Park High, followed with his fourth home run this season.

Dawkins singled and Lionel Hastings doubled.

Mike Samon capped the run of hits with a two-run single that put the Trojans up, 7-5.

Powell had a sacrifice fly and Bret Hemphill was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to give the Titans a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

D.C. Olsen hit his sixth home run and Powell added an RBI ground out in the second for the Titans.

Nate Rodriquez had an RBI grounder as Fullerton added its fifth run in the third inning.

Fullerton plays host to Orange-County rival Chapman at 7 p.m. Friday then takes on Grand Canyon at 1 p.m. Sunday.

In another nonconference game:

Chapman 10, Cal Poly Pomona 8--Chris Briones and Rob Reimers each had two hits and two RBIs for Chapman (19-24) at Hart Park.

In Big West Conference softball:

Cal State Fullerton 5-3, Hawaii 4-0--Tracie Noggle’s two-out double in the bottom of the seventh inning drove in Jstone Vines with the winning run in the opener. Tiffany Boyd (11-9) won both games for Fullerton (24-16, 13-5), and had three hits and two RBIs in the opener. Kelly Hunt homered in the second game. Hawaii is 22-27, 7-15.