The game was close, but the Cougars got no cigar Sunday afternoon against Cal State Fullerton. 

WSU lost 5-4 as Jared Deacon hit an RBI ground ball single to first base in the bottom of the ninth, scoring Greg Velazquez from third base. Velazquez doubled to lead off the ninth inning and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. He was able to score as the grounder bounced off of Matt Mendenhall’s glove at first base. 

The Cougars stayed in the contest until the end, and they were in position to extend the game into extras after they rallied in the top half of the ninth inning. Ian Sagdal pinch hit for Luke Stratman and drew a lead-off walk to begin the inning. He moved over to second base on a sacrifice from Trace Tam Sing, and then ran to third on a ground ball from Trek Stemp. 

The second pinch hitter of the inning, Collin Slaybaugh, followed through with an RBI single to tie the score. Slaybaugh’s at-bat lasted 10 pitches. 

“That’s a Super Regional type three-game series,” Cougar Head Coach Donnie Marbut said. “Our guys played great against a great team.”

The Titans struck first in the second inning off of an RBI single from Timmy Richards. Cal State Fullerton kept the lead until the top of the fourth inning, when Nick Tanielu continued his hot streak with an RBI double that scored Trek Stemp from second base. 

Tanielu went 3 for 4 in the game, following up his performance Saturday in which he recorded a career-high four hits. 

The Cougars added to their score in the top of the fifth inning when Stemp hit a double down the left-field line that scored both Stratman and Mendenhall. The Titans matched WSU with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning, and the score stayed knotted at 3-3 until the bottom of the eighth inning, when the Titans took the lead again on a wild pitch from Sam Triece. 

WSU’s bullpen spent a lot of time on the mound, Sunday, as starter Kellen Camus lasted just two innings. Camus walked three and threw 64 pitches before the Titans chased him in the third inning by loading the bases with nobody out. 

Joe Pistorese came in and shut the door on the Titans’ threat. Tam Sing helped out with a diving catch, and Pistorese forced a weak ground ball, hit back to the mound, that he threw to P.J. Jones at home, and then fired to first to get the third out. 

Four more relievers pitched after Pistorese, and it was Chris McDowell who eventually surrendered the final run in the bottom of the ninth, and took the loss. 

The Cougars play the last game of their road trip on Monday at noon against UC Riverside.