FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton baseball took down No. 3 Stanford on opening day by a final score of 8-1 Friday night at Goodwin Field.
With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the first inning Cole Urman stepped to the plate and hit a single through the right side of the infield to bring home Nate Nankil and put Fullerton up 1-0.
Stanford tied the game up in the top half of the second inning on a home run to right field with two outs by Malcom Moore. Titans starting pitcher Tyler Stultz quickly responded with a strikeout to end the top of the second inning.
Stultz earned the victory for the Titans, pitching five innings while allowing just one run on two hits and striking out seven Cardinal batters.
Fullerton broke the tie in the bottom of the fifth inning. Maddox Latta led off the fifth with a double to right field before a sacrifice bunt by JT Navyac pushed him to third. Latta then scored on a wild pitch to put the Titans up 2-1.
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Latta had an impressive Titans debut, going 3-for-4 at the plate with all three hits being doubles and three runs.
The Titans broked the game open in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring five runs to take a commanding 7-1 lead. Caden Connor got the scoring started with an RBI single to bring home Latta and put Fullerton up 3-1.
After back-to-back singles by Nate Nankil and Zach Lew, Colby Wallace hit a single up the middle to drive in two runs and give the Titans a 5-1 lead. With two outs and runners on second and third, Moises Guzman hit a single through the left side of the infield to bring home Lew and Wallace and put the team up 7-1.
Fullerton had three first-year Titans in the lineup (Moises Guzman, Maddox Latta and Colby Wallace) who combined to go 6-for-11 with four runs and four RBI.
The Titans added one run in the eighth inning on an RBI single by Nankil to score Latta from second base and put the team up 8-1. Nankil had a strong performance on opening day, going 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.
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Fynn Chester came on in relief in the sixth inning and was lights out on the mound, pitching the final four innings, allowing just two hits while striking out three batters to pick up the save. After walking the first batter he saw, Chester retired the next six batters in order and nine of the next 10.
Fullerton looks to capture the series victory Saturday evening in game two against Stanford. First pitch is at 5:00 p.m.
