Titans Capitalize on Arizona’s Wildness in 5-2 Victory

FULLERTON —  Cal State Fullerton took advantage of Arizona’s wild pitching staff in a 5-2 nonconference baseball victory Sunday at Titan Field.

Three Arizona pitchers combined to walk 10 batters, four of whom scored, and had six wild pitches. Mike Schiefelbein (0-2) walked five and threw four wild pitches in 2 2/3 innings to take the loss.

The Titans, getting few good pitches, had five hits, but three of those came in the three-run seventh. Brian King had a one-out home run, Bret Hemphill added an RBI double and Adam Miian had an RBI single.

“We got a lot of walks (early),” Cal State Fullerton Coach Augie Garrido said. “And typically that distracts from the hitter’s aggressiveness . . . We made some nice adjustments later in the game.”

Fullerton (6-1) took a 2-0 lead in the third. King and Jeff Ferguson walked with one out. The runners moved up on a wild pitch. King scored on an RBI groundout by Jim Betzsold and Ferguson scored on an error.

Dan Ricabal (1-0) held Arizona in check, allowing two unearned runs and three hits in 7 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out seven.

Mark Kotsay replaced Ricabal and struck out the only batter he faced. Ted Silva worked the final 1 1/3 innings for his first save.

The victory gave Fullerton, which has won five in a row, a sweep of the three-game series with Arizona (1-5).