Cal State Fullerton starter Colton Eastman held No. 23 Texas Tech to just one run over seven innings Sunday afternoon, pushing the 22nd-ranked Titans to a 4-1 victory in the series finale at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.
Eastman (3-0) limited the Red Raiders (8-5) to just a Tyler Neslony RBI double in the fourth inning on his way to leading Fullerton (6-4) to the series win. The right-hander surrendered just four hits and struck out six for his third win already this season.
Dylan Prohoroff tossed a scoreless eighth inning before Chad Hockin came on to earn the save in the ninth. The save was Hockin’s second this season.
Fullerton led the game in its entirety thanks to a leadoff home run from Timmy Richards in the opening inning. Richards, who connected on his first home run this season, drove a 1-1 pitch from Ty Damron over the fence in left center, giving Fullerton a lead it never relinquished.
The Titans added another run in the third to end Damron’s (1-1) day as the left-hander took the loss after giving up two runs off three hits and two strikeouts. He was relieved to start the fourth by Ryan Shetter, who allowed the final two runs off two hits and a pair of walks in his 1.1 innings.
Hayden Howard and Robert Dugger held the Titans at bay from there, though. Howard provided two scoreless innings before Dugger retired the final eight hitters in order as he needed just 24 pitches over the final 2.2 innings.
The Red Raiders placed their leadoff hitter on base via walks in three of the final four innings but were unable to cut into Fullerton’s lead as the Titans allowed just one hit over that span – a one-out single from Eric Gutierrez in the seventh.
Ryan Long was the only Red Raider to reach base more than once as he doubled in the opening inning and then drew a leadoff walk in the sixth. Tech’s other hit came from a Stephen Smith infield single to start the fourth which set up Neslony’s RBI double to the wall in centerfield.
Dalton Blaser led Fullerton at the plate as he finished 3-for-4 overall with a RBI single as part of a two-run fifth inning. Tanner Pinkston was also 2-for-4 overall with a RBI single in the third.
The Red Raiders will look to bounce back Tuesday afternoon when Tech travels to Frisco for a neutral-site contest against Oral Roberts. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m. at Dr Pepper Ballpark.
