STANFORD — The Cal State Fullerton baseball team fell one run short of extending its postseason run.
Temo Becerra hit a two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning to lift top-seeded Stanford past Fullerton, 6-5, in an elimination game at the Stanford Regional on Sunday.
Fullerton had chances to tie the score late, getting a runner in scoring position in the eighth and ninth innings. Each inning ended on a called strike three.
“Our guys put some quality at-bats together. At the end of the day, we had opportunities and in the postseason you have to take advantage of opportunities,” second-year Fullerton coach Jason Dietrich said. “It’s not a lack of effort or want or wanting to be in those moments, they did. We just didn’t execute. When you don’t execute in those moments it’s the difference between winning and losing. We put ourselves in a position to tie or go ahead and we just didn’t come through.”
“Obviously it’s never fun when the season ends, but at the end of the day, I feel that our guys gave their best effort in this regional. This year we played Stanford four times and we had four unbelievable games with these guys. We just came up short today, but the effort was there.”
Fullerton, which had stayed alive with a 9-5 victory over San Jose State in an elimination game on Saturday, finished the season with a 32-24 record and its first NCAA postseason appearance since 2018.
Stanford advanced to a rematch with Texas A&M later Sunday, which it won, forcing a winner-take-all game between the two teams on Monday for a berth in a best-of-three super regional against Texas, which won its four-team regional in Coral Gables, Florida.
Maddox Latta singled home a run in the first and Cole Urman belted a solo home run in the second to stake Cal State Fullerton to a 2-0 lead, but Tommy Troy put the Cardinal in front with a three-run homer in the third.
The Titans grabbed the lead in the fourth when Nate Nankil doubled to deep right center field to plate Jack Haley. After Becerra put Stanford in the lead for the final time, Drew Dowd and Ryan Bruno pitched the final three scoreless innings to preserve the win.
Nick Dugan (1-0) allowed one run on 3⅔ innings of relief and earned the win for Stanford. Bruno earned his ninth save.
Trevor Hinkel (1-5) gave up three runs on four hits and three walks in 3⅔ innings of relief and took the loss for Fullerton, which went 1-2 in the regional.
Nankil, who went 3 for 4 with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored, believes the program turned a corner this season and credited team chemistry as a major factor.
“Last year, I don’t think we were really together as a team,” the junior right fielder said. “We didn’t really trust each other. This year was a big difference. We trust in each other and we bought in. We brought in a bunch of new guys and we really blended together. We got that team chemistry from the beginning. The coaches did a great job. I think this team was a really special team.”
Dietrich, who said he thanked his older players for the time and effort they have invested in the program, believes the returning players can use this season as a foundation and the regional loss as motivation going into next season. And he believes a culture is taking hold in a program that was picked to finish fifth in the Big West Conference in a preseason coaches’ poll but instead finished second.
“Fullerton has been built off the fundamentals, blue-collar approach,” he said. “We stick to that, we believe in that as coaches. We don’t always get the blue-chip player. We get the guys that love the game of baseball and want to develop and get better and always continuously grow. That’s what we’re always going to continue to do, is believe in each other and do the little things right. That’s one thing that we’ve worked hard to do is build a culture of accountability and playing for each other.
“I’m extremely proud of these guys for the whole year. We’re excited for what the future entails, but I’m very thankful for everything this year.”
