Titans Rally in Ninth, Beat Trojans

Aaron Rifkin drilled a base hit through the hole between first and second in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting Cal State Fullerton to a 12-11 victory over USC Tuesday night.

The Titan victory, in front of 1,897 at Goodwin Field, ended a four-game Trojan winning streak and a streak of three consecutive victories over the Titans.

Fullerton (16-10) scored four runs in the ninth for its eighth victory in the last 10 games.

In the ninth, the Titans loaded the bases with one out on a double by Chris Stringfellow, a walk to Jason Corapci and single by pinch-hitter Louie Lamoure. USC reliever Fraser Dizard walked pinch-hitter Geoff Comfort to force in one run and another scored on David Bacani’s fielder’s choice ground ball to short.

Dizard walked Robert Guzman to again load the bases before Rifkin’s game-winning two-run hit that scored Lamoure and Bacani. Rifkin also homered in the third.

USC outfielder Brian Barre had drilled a two-run homer in the eighth and Josh Persell hit a leadoff shot in the ninth to give the 12th-ranked Trojans an 11-8 lead.

USC (19-11) had tied the score at 8-8 in the seventh with the help of four Fullerton errors that produced two unearned runs.

Barre also had a two-run triple in the third inning, and catcher Alberto Concepcion was four for four for the Trojans.

USC won the first game this season between the teams, 6-5, in 13 innings on Feb. 4 at Dedeaux Field.

Neither team was able to gain a command in the early innings this time and the lead changed six times.

The Titans took a 1-0 lead in the first on Matt Belfanti’s RBI single, USC came back for two runs in the third. Fullerton regained the lead on Rifkin’s two-run homer to right in the bottom of the third. The Titans added another run in the inning when Stringfellow walked, stole second and scored on Shane Costa’s hit.

USC regained the lead, 5-4, with three runs in the fourth. A walk to Michael Moon, a hit by Rob Garibaldi and a fielder’s choice brought in one run before a Barre’s triple brought in two more runs.