Fullerton advances with win

On a day when two teams finally finished a 25-inning game in Texas and another team scored 37 runs in Florida, Cal State Fullerton on Sunday night did nothing out of the ordinary in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament.

The Titans combined their usual solid pitching and defense with a trademark mix of bunting and timely hitting to win a regional at Goodwin Field.

Fullerton’s 16-3 victory over Utah advanced the Titans into a super regional next weekend. The Titans, seeded second nationally, will play host to the winner of today’s game between Louisville and Vanderbilt at Louisville, Ky.

“We’re pretty confident that it’s going to take something special for somebody to beat us,” said Fullerton catcher Dustin Garneau, who batted .583 in the regional and was voted the most valuable player.

After watching Fullerton rout his team twice, Utah Coach Bill Kinneberg has no doubt about the Titans’ chances of returning to the College World Series.

“They’ve got the makings of winning it all,” he said.

First, however, Fullerton must avoid a repeat of last season, when the Titans hosted a super regional but lost twice in a row to Stanford.

So there was no celebratory dog pile near the mound on Sunday night.

“We remember the feeling we had last year on this field after the super regional,” Coach Dave Serrano said. “It’s our goal to keep the uniforms on for as long as possible.”

Fullerton (45-14) could be in for a run into late June if the Titans continue to play as they did over the weekend.

Freshman right-hander Tyler Pill (11-3), following the lead of freshman Noe Ramirez and sophomore Daniel Renken, pitched like a veteran.

Pill gave up three runs and seven hits and struck out nine in eight innings Sunday as the Titans routed Utah for the second time in three days.

Fullerton opened the regional by bombarding Utah pitchers for 24 hits in an 18-2 victory. The Utes (28-31) battled their way back into the winner’s bracket by eliminating Georgia Southern on Saturday and Gonzaga earlier Sunday.

But the effort exhausted the Utah pitching staff, forcing the Utes to send left-hander Stephen Streich to the mound for his first start.

Not a terrific matchup against a Fullerton team that got a power boost from outfielder Khris Davis. The junior outfielder hit two home runs and drove in three runs Sunday after homering in each of the first two games.

Davis said Fullerton coaches helped him weather late-season struggles with extra work in the batting cage before the regional.

The focus?

“Making my swing more game-like in the cages,” said Davis, who has 16 homers. “That was it, basically, and it carried over into the games.”

The Titans, the designated visiting team, led 7-0 before Utah finally scored on C.J. Cron’s solo homer in the fourth inning.

Fullerton answered with five runs in the fifth en route to a 21-hit performance.

Davis, shortstop Christian Colon, outfielder Josh Fellhauer and second baseman Joe Scott each had three hits for the Titans.

--

Virginia 4, UC Irvine 1 -- UC Irvine lost to Virginia for the second time in two days, ending the host Anteaters’ season and putting the Cavaliers in a super regional for the first time. UC Irvine would have needed to defeat Virginia in the game late Sunday and again today to advance.

The Anteaters had stayed alive earlier by eliminating San Diego State, 14-3, as Jeff Cusick had four hits, and Ben Orloff and Ronnie Shaeffer each drove in three runs.

A day after being shut out for the first time this season, the top-seeded Anteaters racked up 19 hits against Tony Gwynn’s Aztecs.

Cusick was four for five with two doubles and two RBIs and scored four runs, while Orloff had three hits and scored three times. Crosby Slaught (8-0) worked into the sixth inning.

It was the Aztecs’ first NCAA appearance in 18 years.

--

In other games, Florida State set NCAA postseason records with 37 runs, 38 hits and 66 total bases in a 37-6 victory over Ohio State. The Seminoles advanced to the super regionals with the victory.

Florida State’s Stephen Cardullo set a tournament record with seven hits, including three of Florida State’s NCAA-record 15 doubles and the Seminoles set or tied 18 NCAA, school or postseason records.

“I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like it,” Coach Mike Martin said.

“We’re sitting there in the fourth inning and I knew we were going to a super regional.”

Jason Stidham, the regional’s most outstanding player, hit a two-run double as the Seminoles scored eight times in the first and cruised past the pitching-depleted Buckeyes.

“Everything they did was right,” said Ohio State Coach Bob Todd, who went through seven pitchers. “Everything we did was wrong.”

Other teams advancing to the super regionals were: North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana State, Arkansas, Texas Christian, Texas and Arizona State.

--

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

gary.klein@latimes.com