Tyler Pill was dominant in both the top and bottom of innings on Sunday at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
The Cal State Fullerton starter hurled eight innings of three-hit ball, striking out 11, while also going 4-for-5 with an RBI at the plate as the No. 22 Titans took the rubber match of the Big West series against UCSB, 6-1.
Fullerton starter Tyler Pill struck out 11 and also went 4-for-5 at the plate on Sunday.
“Tyler threw excellent. Today was The Tyler Pill Show, I thought,” said Titans head coach Dave Serrano. “I said to my assistant coach in the seventh inning when I looked out and saw him out there, battling in the seventh with dirt all down his uniform, sweat on the top of his jersey and sweat in his hair. I said ‘There’s a baseball player.'”
After a Sean Williams singled in the third, Pill retired 14 of the next 15 Gauchos he faced. UCSB’s only run came in the first inning, when Matt Valaika doubled in Gunnar Terhune. UCSB starter Jesse Meaux struggled a bit against the Titan offense, allowing five runs on 11 hits with three strikeouts in six innings. He was relieved by Nick Loredo and David Meals, and the Gauchos did not issue a walk the entire game.
“We didn’t really make many mistakes today, if any, but they just keep comin’ at you. If we would have made some mistakes today it could have been 12-1 as opposed to 6-1,” said UCSB coach Bob Brontsema. “We played a relatively clean game. We didn’t walk anybody and we didn’t make any errors — they’re just a really good team.”
Fullerton (20-13, 7-2 Big West) slugger Nick Ramirez also did a little bit of everything, blasting a double and an opposite-field home run in the fourth inning, then later relieving Pill in the ninth to slam the door shut. Titans centerfielder Gary Brown made stellar back-to-back base-running plays by turning a bloop single into a double before tagging up all the way home from second on a fly ball to left field.
“That was probably the play I was disappointed in most, that we kind of got that ball in slowly when we should have been a little more attentive,” said Brontsema.
The Gauchos (16-14, 3-3) play at USC on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
