FULLERTON – The rivalry was intense, and so was the play in the finale game between the two West Coast powerhouse rivals, Long Beach State and CS Fullerton.
The announcement earlier in the day that the Dirtbags would be given an at-large bid to the post-season, and also will play host next weekend in the NCAA Regionals, prompted head coach Mike Weathers to tell his Dirtbags to go out and play like regional hosts.
The regional hosting Dirtbags did just that, as they battled to an 11-7, series-clinching victory.
“I thought [the game] was a little bit like a late weekend regional game and I thought that was good for us,” Weathers said. “We never quit. I thought they played a good game.”
What made the victory even sweeter for the Dirtbags was the fact that the win may have taken away Fullerton’s post-season chances. CSF’s 10-10 Big West record is only good enough to put the team in fourth place, while LBSU’s 15-6 record leaves the Dirtbags tied for second place in the Big West with UC Irvine, finishing only one game behind first-time conference champs UC Riverside.
Although Fullerton’s 33-23 overall record may be good enough to give an at-large bid, Fullerton cannot rest-assured until the selection is made Monday morning.
“It feels awesome,” Brandon Godfrey said. “That is exactly what they did to us last year. That was the one thing that we wanted to do today and it’s a good feeling to make your rival sit at home during the post-season.”
The game went back and forth for several innings in front of a packed crowd at CSF’s Goodwin Field.
LHP Shane Peterson (five innings, four hits, two earned runs, one walk, six strikeouts) got off to a strong start, retiring the side 1-2-3 with strikeouts. Peterson matched his career-high six strikeouts in the bottom of the third. But soon thereafter, Peterson began to miss his location as he hit the first batter of the fourth inning, and then followed by giving up a two-run homer to Nick Mahin to tie the game at 2-all.
The Dirtbags responded in the fifth when Robert Perry (2-for-4, two doubles, three runs, two RBIs) hit a one out, bases-clearing double to drive in three runs, and Godfrey (3-for-5, two runs, one RBI) and Travis Howell (1-for-5, three RBIs, 11-game hit streak) drove in one more apiece, making the score 7-2.
The ever-determined Titans were determined and rallied for a five-run bottom of the sixth, with Josh Fellhauer smacking a two-run homer over the left field fence for the Titans’ second two-run jack of the game.
The game was tied at 7-7 in the top of the seventh when the Dirtbags once again responded, this time with a three-run seventh to take a 10-7 lead. Peterson drove in TJ Mittelstaedt (2-for-3, one run) from second in the eighth for an insurance run.
“I like the way we came back,” Weathers said. “The only thing that sticks out for me is our defense. We didn’t really hurt ourselves with defense.”
The win tallied the Dirtbags to a 37-18 overall record. But most importantly, it gave the Dirtbags a huge confidence boost going into the post-season.
“We’re going to have confidence that we can beat anybody, basically,” Godfrey said.
