FULLERTON — Long Beach State’s Andrew Gagnon and Cal State Fullerton’s Noe Ramirez, two of the best pitchers in the Big West Conference, battled Saturday night as the Dirtbags lost their season opener, 2-1, at Goodwin Field.
Dirtbags’ catcher Mike Marjama drove in third baseman Matt Duffy with an RBI single in the first inning to give LBSU the early 1-0 lead.
Still trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh, the Titans rallied for the tying and winning runs.
Tyler Pill led off the inning with a double, and scored on a triple by Joe Terry. Gagnon struck out the next batter but followed by hitting Jared Deacon with a pitch. Titans second baseman Matt Orloff then dropped a sacrifice bunt to Dirtbags first baseman Ino Patron, who threw home to prevent the squeeze play, but the runner stayed at third to load the bases.
A sacrifice fly by leadoff hitter Richy Pedroza scored the go-ahead run for the Titans.
Gagnon (0-1) held off any chances of the Titans scoring for the first six innings. The junior right-hander allowed two earned runs on four hits, struck out six and walked three in seven innings. Meanwhile, Ramirez (1-0) was just as tough to hit, allowing one earned run on six hits and struck out five in seven innings.
Titans reliever Nick Ramirez pitched the final two innings for the save.
It was also the start of a three-game series, which will officially count as a nonconference meeting for both teams.
The Dirtbags will have their home opener when the series resumes Sunday at Blair Field. The first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday’s game, which was rained out, has been rescheduled for Monday at 6:30 p.m.
Sports editor Tracy McDannald contributed to this report.
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