COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Choi Three-Hitter Helps Long Beach Beat Titans Again

Daniel Choi pitched an three-hitter as Cal State Long Beach beat Cal State Fullerton, 4-1, in a Big West Conference baseball game Saturday at Fullerton.

Choi, a sophomore right-hander, had eight strikeouts as he improved to 11-1. Dan Ricabal (6-2) took the loss for Fullerton (26-11, 14-3 in conference).

The Titans, ranked second nationally by Collegiate Baseball and third by Baseball America, scored their only run in the fourth on one of Adam Millan’s two doubles.

Long Beach (25-14, 10-4) broke a 1-1 tie with a run in the eighth and got two more in the ninth including a home run by Cobi Cradle.

Cradle opened the eighth with double, went to third on a wild pitch and scored when Titan left-fielder Tony Banks dropped a fly ball.

Banks walked to start the ninth, but Choi retired the next three batters, including D.C. Olsen on a strikeout to end the game.

Fullerton will try to avoid a sweep when the teams meet at 1 p.m. today at Fullerton. Long Beach won the series opener, 13-6, Friday.

In Golden State Athletic Conference baseball:

Christ College Irvine 4-3, Cal Baptist 2-5--Paul Chavez and Gary Sussman each had two hits in the first game to lead host Christ College Irvine (11-21-2).

Cal Baptist scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning of the second game to take a 5-3 lead. Sussman and Dan Davis had two hits for Irvine.

In nonconference baseball:

Cal State Northridge 20, Chapman 12--Greg Shepard hit a three-run home run in the third inning and added another homer in the ninth to lead a 21-hit attack at Hart Park in Orange. Chris Olsen and Andy Small also homered for Northridge (21-12).

Brian Green had five hits and three runs batted in and scored twice for Chapman (18-23). Eric Sturm took the loss, giving up eight runs in 1 2/3 innings.

In nonconference softball:

Southern California College 15-14, Biola 1-2, (mercy rule, five innings, both games)--Stephanie Wills had five hits, drove in three runs and scored three runs in the doubleheader for visiting Southern California College (30-18-2). Teammate Shannon Moreno had four hits and three RBIs and scored four runs.

In the second game, Stacy Hembree had two hits and four RBIs and pitched a two-hitter for the victory.

In Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s volleyball:

UCLA 3, UC Irvine 0--Tim Kelly, Matt Taylor and Jeff Nygaard had eight kills apiece, and Mike Sealy had 37 assists to lead UCLA to a 15-3, 15-9, 15-10, sweep at UC Irvine’s Crawford Hall. Alex Huang had 10 kills and Jason Hinchman 22 assists to lead Irvine (2-19, 1-17). UCLA is 20-3, 15-3.

In nonconference men’s tennis:

San Diego State 6, UC Irvine 3-- Chris Tontz defeated Chris Numbers at No. 2 singles, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2, and teamed with Aaron Stolpman to win No. 1 doubles for Irvine (10-11). San Diego State is 15-2.