Report By LBSU

An 11-run third inning from Cal State Fullerton closed the book on the Dirtbags’ chances in the season finale, as Long Beach State fell on the road 15-2 to the Titans. Jonathan Jones was 3-for-3 with a triple and two runs scored for The Beach.

Freshman Andrew Gagnon worked his way out of a pair of jams in the first and second innings, but with the bases loaded in the third, an RBI groundout by Khris Davis gave Cal State Fullerton their first run of the game. A single by Dustin Garneau put up another run in station to station baseball, and a hit batter brought home another run as Cal State Fullerton took a 3-0 lead in the third.

A fourth run scored on an error to shortstop, stopping the string of earned runs, but opening the floodgates in the rest of the inning. Reliever Josh Corrales walked in a fifth run, two more scored on a second error in the inning, and two more came home on a Jared Clark single to right. Finally, Davis hit his 12th home run of the year, a two-run shot before a flyout ended the inning, with Cal State Fullerton holding a 11-0 lead.

Steve Tinoco walked to start the fourth inning, and after advancing on a wild pitch, Taylor Krick singled to right field to bring home the junior first baseman, getting Long Beach State on the board.

Cal State Fullerton added two more runs on a two-run single by Josh Fellhauer in the fourth inning. The Dirtbags scored again in the top of the fifth, as Kirk Singer scored Jonathan Jones with a double following a leadoff triple from Jones.

The Titans added two more runs in the sixth, taking a 15-2 lead. Jones came around to score in the Dirtbag half of the seventh after reaching safely for a third time after being hit by reliever Colin O’Connell.

Long Beach State finishes the 2009 campaign with a 25-29 record, and ends with an 11-13 record in Big West Conference play. All-Conference awards will be named on Tuesday, May 26, and the team will then wait for the two-day 2009 MLB Draft beginning on June 9.