FULLERTON — Cole Santander delivered a pair of big hits and the Long Beach State baseball team edged rival Cal State Fullerton, 2-1, in the opener of their three-game series on Friday night at Goodwin Field.
Santander tied the score with a solo home run in the fourth inning then the sophomore added an RBI double in the top of the eighth as LBSU (29-21 overall, 13-12 Big West Conference) held on.
The loss was the seventh straight for the Titans (28-20, 17-8), who are tied atop the Big West standings with UC Santa Barbara (34-16, 17-8) with five games left in the regular season.
Long Beach right-hander Nico Zeglin turned in his ninth quality start of the season, holding the Titans to one run in 6-1/3 innings while scattering five hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Jonathan Carlos (2-0) followed with 2-1/3 scoreless innings, striking out four, before Sky Wells came on with two runners on in the ninth to get the final out with a strikeout for his fourth save of the season.
Connor Burns went 3 for 4 and Kyle Ashworth went 3 for 4 with a double for Long Beach.
Fullerton took an early lead on Caden Connor’s solo home run in the first inning, but the Titans were stifled the rest of the night. Left-hander Tyler Stultz held LBSU to one earned run on seven hits in his seven innings with a season-high 10 strikeouts and two walks. Jojo Ingrassia (5-2) took the loss after allowing one run on two hits and a walk in two innings.
Connor went 2 for 3 and Moises Guzman went 2 for 4 to pace Fullerton.
The teams square off again Saturday at 5 p.m. with the series finale scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m.
