College Baseball : Titans Undefeated in Their ‘New Season’ : Fullerton Sweeps Long Beach and Holds On to Division Lead

Cal State Fullerton’s baseball team held a mock funeral on Thursday to put to rest a disappointing first two-thirds of the 1985 season and Friday night they beat Cal State Long Beach, 2-1, in the first game of their self-proclaimed “new season.”

But it was the first game of a Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. doubleheader against the 49ers at Titan Field Saturday that Coach Augie Garrido thinks may have been the turning point in the defending national champions’ drive to return to the NCAA playoffs.

It certainly wasn’t that Fullerton looked particularly invincible or awe-inspiring. In fact, the Titans committed four errors and gave Long Beach four unearned runs, but they came away with a 10-7 win that had Garrido beaming.

“This game could have broken us,” he said after the opener. “Last night was a nice, clean, exciting game, but this was a tougher one. Champions don’t play well every game, but they still manage to win. It doesn’t have to be a Rembrandt every time. Winning cleans up all those mistakes.”

And the winning continued in the nightcap as Fullerton extended its longest winning streak of the season to five with a 9-4 victory that boosted the Titans’ record to 24-22-1 overall, 12-5 in conference action and, of course, 3-0 in the second season.

It’s probably no coincidence that Garrido picked a three-game series against Long Beach to start anew. The 49ers dropped to 18-30 and 5-12 in PCAA play.

But Garrido is only concerned with accentuating the positive in this, the Titans’ season of discontent.

“We started getting the key hits for a change, something you don’t do when you’re projecting on losing,” Garrido said. “That was the difference today.”

He hopes it will be the difference the rest of the way, as the Titans battle to retain their lead in the PCAA’s South Division.

Fullerton jumped on 49er left-hander Howie Townsend for four runs in each of the first two innings of the nightcap and then hung on in a most leisurely paced seven-inning affair than began in 80-degree heat and finished in the chill of dusk with the lights on.

The most excitement was provided by a couple of 49er and Titan fans who engaged in a fight underneath the grandstand that escalated into a full-fledged brawl--including a few players protecting parents--and ended only when two police cars screeched onto the scene. No one appeared to be seriously injured.

First baseman Kevin Reimer provided much of the Titans’ offensive punch in the second game, driving in one run in the first with a double and two more with a triple in the second. John Fishel had a sacrifice fly in the first and an RBI-single in the second.

The 49ers touched up Mark Belanger for two runs in the first and fifth innings, but the lanky southpaw worked his way out of trouble the rest of the time as Long Beach left the bases loaded four times. Belanger improved his record to 8-2, by far the best on the beleaguered Fullerton staff.

Garrido was still talking about left-hander Dion Beck’s opening-game win, though. Beck gave up eight hits and didn’t get a lot of help behind him, but he kept battling and went the distance.

“Beck epitomized what I’m talking about today,” Garrido said. “He was a leader out there.”

It looked like it might be an easy outing for Beck--for a couple of innings, anyway.

Long Beach starter Curt Heslington, who went 6 innings and yielded 13 hits and 9 earned runs to lose the opener, walked the bases loaded in the first inning. Titan left-fielder Keith Watkins got two RBIs on a single off third baseman Fernando Acosta’s glove and designated hitter Andy Nieto singled in another run for a quick 3-0 Fullerton lead.

The 49ers tied the game in the third thanks to a fielder’s choice, a wild pitch and a throwing error by third baseman Blaine Larker.

But Fullerton rebounded with two in the bottom of the third when catcher John Eccles hit the first of two identical two-run doubles into the left-field corner, driving in Watkins and Nieto, with Nieto scoring on a close play at the plate. Eccles’ fifth-inning double was an instant replay of his first. He hit it to the same spot in the left-field corner and once again drove in Watkins and Nieto, with Nieto scoring on a close play at the plate.

This time, the Titans were ahead for good, 7-6. But there was still a host of anxious moments ahead.

“The smog bothered me,” said Beck, who struck out pinch-hitter Steve Brodie with 49ers on second and third to end the game. “It was hard to breathe. But this was a good game for me. It was the first game of a doubleheader and I was able to go the distance and save the staff for the second game.

“As long as we keep scoring runs like that, I’ll hang in the game.”

And the reports of Fullerton’s demise may prove to be premature after all.