June 1, 2003
FULLERTON, Calif. – (courtesy of ncaasports.com) Cal State Fullerton freshman right-hander Dustin Miller allowed just one run through eight innings of work and senior Jason Corapci was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs as the Titans advanced to the NCAA Baseball Super Regionals with an 8-1 victory over Notre Dame on Sunday afternoon at Goodwin Field.
Fullerton improved to 46-13 overall and will meet Arizona State in a best-of-three series next weekend. Site and game times for the super regionals will be announced on Monday (June 2). Notre Dame finishes its season 45-18 overall.
Miller (8-2) struck out 10 Irish players and scattered nine hits on the afternoon without walking a batter. He was treated to a standing ovation as he left the game in the ninth inning in favor of Sean Martin who, after a leadoff single by Kris Billmaier, struckout pinch hitter Tim Murray and induced Greg Lopez to line into a double play to close out the Titans’ victory.
Peter Ogilvie (2-4) suffered the loss, allowing five earned runs on nine hits in just 2 2/3 innings. Three Notre Dame relievers combined to hold the Titans to just a run on three hits the rest of the way, but the damage had been done.
Fullerton got on the board quickly, scoring two runs each in the first and second innings before putting up three runs in the third. Justin Turner had an RBI double in the first and David Fischer had an RBI fielder’s choice in the first for the 2-0 lead.
The Titans tacked on two more runs in the second on an RBI single by Corapci and a Notre Dame error, scoring Kurt Suzuki from third to make it 4-0. Cal State Fullerton increased its lead to 7-0 in the third on RBI’s from Corapci and Danny Dorn and another Irish error.
Notre Dame finally broke through against Miller in the seventh as freshman Cody Rizzo doubled down the left field line and came home on a run-scoring fielder’s choice by catcher Javi Sanchez.
The Titans got a run back in the eighth as Corapci led off with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice, stole third and scored on Justin Turner’s RBI single to center to cap the scoring at 8-1.
Turner, Dorn and P.J. Pilittere each finished with a pair of hits while Turner also added a pair of RBI. Steve Sollmann was 3-for-4 to lead Notre Dame’s offense, which banged out 10 hits on the day.
2003 NCAA REGIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
1B – Joe Thaman, Notre Dame
2B – Steve Sollman, Notre Dame
3B – Ronnie Prettyman, Cal State Fullerton
SS – Justin Turner, Cal State Fullerton
OF – Tony Perez, San Diego
OF – Kris Billmaier, Notre Dame
OF – Jeff Van Houten, Arizona
C – Javi Sanchez, Notre Dame
DH – P.J. Pilittere, Cal State Fullerton
P – Chad Cordero, Cal State Fullerton
P – Dustin Miller, Cal State Fullerton
Most Outstanding Player: Chad Cordero, Cal State Fullerton