University of Minnesota Athletics
Baseball Falls to No. 2 Cal State Fullerton 6-1
3/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Cal State Fullerton pitcher Wes Littleton set the tone early for the Titans. After Luke Appert (Cottage Grove, Minn.) reached on a walk and Scott Welch (Missoula, Mon.) singled with two outs in the first inning, Littleton retired 17 of the next 18 batters.
The Titans got to Minnesota starter C.J. Woodrow (Plymouth, Minn.) in the first inning when Ronnie Prettyman led off the inning with a double and came around to score on a Shane Costa sacrifice fly to make the score 1-0. Cal State Fullerton took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning on a Justin Smyres RBI groundout and a Prettyman RBI single.
Cal State Fullerton added single runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh inning to build up a 6-0 lead. Minnesota finally got on the board in the eighth inning when Ben Pattee (Ukiah, Calif.) singled home David Hrncirik to make it 6-1.
Littleton pitched eight innings, gave up seven hits and struck out six to get the win and move to 4-0 on the season. Woodrow gave up five runs in four and a third innings and took the loss to fall to 1- 2 on the season. Freshman Andy Peters (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) pitched a scoreless inning and a third of relief.
Minnesota was led by Welch and Sam Steidl (Alexandria, Minn.) who were each two for four for the game. Pattee finished one for four with an RBI. Appert was 0-3 and had his nine-game hitting streak snapped.
Prettyman led the way for the Titans going four for four with three doubles, two RBI and two runs. Suzuki was three for four with a run and an RBI on the game.
Minnesota and Cal State Fullerton will play the third game of the series on Sunday, Mar. 9 at 12 p.m. in the Metrodome. The Golden Gophers will have redshirt freshman Glen Perkins (Stillwater, Minn.), who is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA, on the mound. The Titans will pitch Dustin Miller who is 3-1 with a 3.75 ERA.
