2010 NCAA Regional Baseball Tournament: Fullerton Regional

Two big-name West Coast baseball schools locked horns on Saturday afternoon, and not in the situation either program is accustomed to. Fortunately for Cal State Fullerton, some Christian charity resided on its side of this California-flavored collision.

Christian Colon became a very good Christian in this do-or-die donnybrook, homering twice and knocking in four runs as host and top-seeded Cal State Fullerton staved off elimination thanks to a 6-5 victory over second-seeded Stanford on Saturday at Goodwin Field.

The Titans stayed alive in the NCAA baseball regionals and advanced to face either Minnesota or New Mexico in another elimination game on Sunday afternoon at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. Pacific. The winner of that late-afternoon game would stay alive for the final stage of the regionals, which would begin Sunday night.

The Cardinal – who, along with Fullerton, have made numerous trips to the College World Series over the long march of time – finished their season prematurely. It’s not often that a Stanford baseball club gets wiped out of a regional in two games flat.

Starting pitcher Noe Ramirez (11-1) earned the victory for the Titans, striking out eight to in eight innings of work before Nick Ramirez came on to pitch a perfect ninth for the save.

Brett Mooneyham (3-7) suffered the loss for Stanford, allowing all six runs on just five hits in 5 1/3 innings before giving way to Danny Sandbrink in the sixth, who kept the Cardinal in the conversation thanks to 2 2/3 innings of one-hit ball.

Both of Colon's dingers were of the two-run variety. The two long balls gave the Titans a 5-2 lead in the fifth inning.

Corey Jones' RBI double in the top of the sixth wound up being very important, though, in the larger scheme of things for CSUF. Stanford – down 6-2 after that hit - rallied to pull within a run in the bottom of the sixth. The Cardinal received a shot in the arm – and over the outfield wall – when Stephen Piscotty slammed a three-run jack to make the score 6-5. Noe Ramirez worked out of the sixth, but as the latter innings dawned, it was anybody’s game to win. However, the double-Ramirez mound combo staved off Stanford and propelled the Titans to another must-win game on Sunday afternoon.

This really was a clash of West Coast baseball royalty... a clash of the Titans, you might say. Naturally, then, the Titans won. How fitting.

Stanford vs Cal State Fullerton - NCAA Regional Baseball Recap