Going into Friday night’s match-up between Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton, all signs pointed to a lopsided Titans win. Adam Wilk and the Dirtbags had other plans.
Two of the top pitchers in the Big West Conference went toe-to-toe as LBSU (25-27, 11-11 Big West) was knocked off by the fourth-ranked Titans (40-14, 15-7 Big West), 4-3, in front of 2,430 at Goodwin Field.
Wilk and Titans’ starter Daniel Renken, both natives of Cypress, came into the contest near the top of many of the Big West pitching statistical categories.
Wilk entered with an ERA of 2.77 (29 runs allowed this season), while Renken’s was 2.42 (27 runs allowed). Both pitchers also had near identical win totals, Wilk with seven and Renken with eight.
Yet, much like in those statistics, Renken was just a little bit better on Friday night.
Wilk (7-4) walked off the field to an ovation from the road crowd, but took the loss after throwing 122 pitches in 6 1/3 innings.
As a junior, Wilk is eligible to be drafted by a Major League Baseball team this summer, so this may have been his last start in a LBSU uniform.
“I didn’t think about that out there,” Wilk said. “But when I got into the dugout, I went, ‘that might have been my last guy and my last outing.’ You just never know … it’s still a while until the draft.”
The junior was tested early in the first inning when it took him 30 pitches to get through the frame, but he was able to escape without giving up a run.
“I thought Wilk did well after the third inning,” head coach Mike Weathers said. “I thought he pitched too fine early in the game, but I thought he found himself. He really has a good understanding of how to be a starting pitcher after starting the year in the bullpen. I think he’s well equipped to go to pro ball, whenever that is.”
In the end, hit batsmen (Wilk had three), and errors (LBSU had three) were too much to overcome.
“There’s nothing I could do about that [errors by fielders],” said Wilk. “They’ve made some really good plays for me throughout the year, and it just so happened that all the errors came into one game.”
Renken (9-2) gave up three runs on seven hits in eight innings as he topped 115 pitches on the mound for the Titans.
TJ Mittelstaedt led the Dirtbags on offense with two hits — both triples — a walk, and one run scored. Jordan Casas went 2-for-5 with an RBI for the Dirtbags.
The Dirtbags took full advantage of their first at bat as Steve Tinoco blasted a solo home run over the left field fence to give LBSU the 1-0 lead.
CSUF took the lead on a double to center field by shortstop Christian Colon that scored two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Casas attempted to make a diving catch on the play, but the ball came out of his glove.
Goodwin Field caters much more to hitters than LBSU’s Blair Field does, even though they share similar dimensions.
Casas used the large field when he smashed a double to left-center field that scored Kellen Hoime to tie the game 2-2 in the top of the fifth inning.
The Titans took their final 4-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth when a hit batsman and walk turned into a run for CSUF.
Long Beach State will play the second game of the three-game series Saturday at Goodwin Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
LBSU needs to win the next two games to avoid becoming the first “Dirtbag” team to finish under .500.
Game notes
Wilk, a junior, said after the game that the scouts he has talked to project him to go somewhere in the first 10 rounds of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft this summer.