Postgame Quotes

Fullerton Regional Page

FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton freshman Connor Seabold tossed six shutout innings and was supported by five multi-hit efforts from the offense to propel the 21st-ranked Cal State Fullerton baseball team to a 10-1 rout over Pepperdine in the Fullerton Regional Championship Sunday night at Goodwin Field.

The Titans secured their 21st overall Regional title and advanced to their 12th NCAA Super Regional appearance and will travel to No. 3 national seed Louisville at Jim Patterson Stadium.

All-session tickets for the Louisville Super Regional are on sale. Contact the Titans ticket office at (657) 278-CSUF (2783) to get your tickets.

All-session tickets for the Super Regional are $45 for reserved chairback seats, $25 for general admission and outfield berm seating and $15 for Louisville students.

Seabold (5-3), who was pitching in his first collegiate postseason game for the Titans (37-22), was not intimidated by the moment as he struck out the side in the opening frame en route to five consecutive strikeouts and nine overall to stifle the Pepperdine (32-29) offense. The right-hander did not concede a run, scattering six hits over six innings. The Newport Beach, Calif. native tied career-highs in strikeouts and innings pitched.

The Fullerton offense pounded out 13 hits and took advantage of three Pepperdine errors as Dalton Blaser (2-for-4), David Olmedo-Barrera (2-for-3), Tanner Pinkston (2-for-4), Tyler Stieb (2-for-5), and Josh Vargas (2-for-4) combined for five runs scored. Nine different Titans scored a run and eight tallied at least one base-hit.

Pinkston sparked the Titans' bats early, roping a fastball into the right-center field gap for a leadoff double in the top of the second inning. Blaser followed with a ground ball to the right-side of the diamond to advance Pinkston to third. With the infield drawn in, Fullerton sophomore Timmy Richards muscled a ground ball up the middle for the RBI fielder's choice to give Fullerton a 1-0 lead.

The Titans added to their lead in the third when Vargas led off with a single to left field. The left fielder stole second before Olmedo-Barrera found a hole through the right-side to plate Vargas and extend the Titans' lead to 2-0.

Pepperdine threatened to keep the game close in their half of the third after a leadoff walk to Jeremy Goldenetz brought the tying run to the plate with Fullerton Regional All-Tournament selection Chris Fornaci. Seabold executed his pitches to thwart the rally and cap off the frame with his sixth punch-out of the outing.

Fullerton opened up its lead in the fourth, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring four runs on four hits. Blaser led off the inning with a single up the middle and eventually scored on A.J. Kennedy's double down the left field line. Two batters later and with the bases-loaded, Stieb sent a deep fly ball to center to add to the lead. Olmedo-Barrera followed with his second hit of the game, clearing the bases and pushing the Titan advantage to 6-0.

The Titans scored two unearned runs in the top of the sixth, and two in the top of the ninth to round out the scoring on the night. The 10 runs scored in the championship game was the highest output for Fullerton since a 10-1 victory over UC Santa Barbara on May 9.

Cal State Fullerton sophomore Maxwell Gibbs relieved Seabold in the seventh, pitching one and 1/3 scoreless innings to bridge the gap to right-handed relievers Chad Hockin in the eighth and senior Willie Kuhl in the ninth, who made his final appearance at Goodwin Field to seal the victory and send the Titans to the NCAA Super Regionals.

Five Titans were named to the Fullerton Regional All-Tournament team as Pinkston, Vargas, Olmedo-Barerra, Tyler Peitzmeier and Thomas Eshelman were named to the squad. Eshelman was also named the Tournament MVP after his effort in the Titan victory over Arizona State on Saturday night.

Pepperdine, the champions of the West Coast Conference in 2015, ends its season with an overall record of 32-29 and have reached an NCAA Regional in three out of its last four years.

2015 Fullerton All-Regional Team

Catcher: Aaron Barnett, Pepperdine*

1B: Tanner Pinkston, Cal State Fullerton

2B: Hutton Moyer, Pepperdine*

3B: Chris Fornaci, Pepperdine

SS: Eli White, Clemson

OF: Trever Allen, Arizona State*

OF: Josh Vargas, Cal State Fullerton

OF: Steven Duggar, Clemson

DH: David Olmedo-Barrera, Cal State Fullerton

P: Thomas Eshelman, Cal State Fullerton*

P: Tyler Peitzmeier, Cal State Fullerton

MVP: Thomas Eshelman, Cal State Fullerton

* - Unanimous Selection



Game Notes: Seabold fanned five consecutive Waves which was last done by a Titan pitcher on May 15 by Thomas Eshelman at Big West foe UC Riverside…Of the eight schools (Texas, Florida State, Miami (Fla.), Oklahoma State, Clemson, Arizona State, Southern California, Cal State Fullerton) that have recorded 37-or-more Div. I baseball postseason appearances, the Titans are the only team to have never gone winless in Regional play…This is the third meeting and of the season between the Titans and Waves with Fullerton victors of all three, 3-0 on March 3, 9-3 to open the Fullerton Regional on Friday, and once more to clinch a berth to the Super Regionals tonight…Fullerton extended its win-streak to a season-high nine games…The Titans boast a record of 37-9 during Regional play at Goodwin Field and swept a regional at home for the second straight time, the last coming in 2013…CSF holds a 60-41 overall record against Pepperdine all-time in a series that dates back to 1975, Fullerton's first year at the NCAA Division I level… This was the 11th meeting between the Titans and Waves in the postseason with Cal State Fullerton holding a 8-3 advantage including a 7-2 mark in Regional play…Bravo extended his reaching base-streak to a 41st consecutive contest…This year marked the 12th time Fullerton has been selected to host a regional…The Titans extended their all-time NCAA record to 149-78 including a 99-41 tally in Regional play…The Titans are 28-9 this season when scoring first.