Cal State Fullerton Must Scramble to Defeat Biola

Freshman Chad Cordero pitched a 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to shut down a late rally and help Cal State Fullerton defeat Biola, 7-6, Wednesday at Goodwin Field.

The Titans (35-11) held a 7-1 lead after seven innings, but Biola (41-7), ranked fourth in the NAIA national poll, roughed up reliever Sean Martin for five runs in the eighth inning to cut the Titans’ lead to 7-6.

Sacrifice fly balls by Jason Corapci and Aaron Rifkin got the Titans a 2-0 lead in the first. Matt Belfanti’s two-run home run in the second and a wild pitch that enabled Shane Costa to score gave Fullerton a 5-0 lead after three innings.

Ben Orr and Jonathon Rouwenhorst tripled and Eric Slater doubled in the eighth inning to lead Biola’s comeback before Cordero preserved the victory and notched his ninth save of the season.

In another nonconference game:

Chapman 8, The Master’s 5--Brian Sanders hit two-run home runs in the fourth and sixth innings and added a bases-empty shot in the eighth for visiting Chapman (32-8).

In the Southern California Regional dual team men’s community college tennis championships:

College of the Desert 5, Saddleback 1--With the victory, the top seeded three-time defending state champions reached the title match again. Saddleback’s Arif Hasan defeated Carlos Palencia, who is ranked third in the state. Desert is 20-2; Saddleback is 21-2.