Titans Upset No. 6 Oregon State!

Mikiah Negrete pitches at Titan Stadium. (Photo by Tony Macon/Cal State Fullerton Athletics)

What a performance by the Titans of Cal State Fullerton!

Not only did the Titans take down the #6 Oregon State Beavers by a score of 2-1, they did so with Oregon State’s ace and top 2027 MLB Draft prospect Dax Whitney on the mound. CSU Fullerton’s Mikiah Negrete delivered a standout performance with a complete game shutout, also striking out six Beavers along the way.

This was Negrete’s second complete game shutout of the season, having also held the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors scoreless in a Titans victory on March 27th. Negrete’s shutout on Friday demonstrated again how crucial he is to the squad; Fullerton is 8-2 in games which Negrete has started compared to 11-15 otherwise. Yet another reason this outing was remarkable, is that this is Dax Whitney’s first recorded loss all season. Whitney is a truly special pitcher and delivered a solid line of his own, (7.0 IP, 2 ER, 7-0 K/BB); this only speaks further to how tremendous Negrete was for Fullerton on Friday.

Both of the Titans’ RBI were delivered by 3B Cameron Kim. Kim grounded out to second in the first inning, which scored Paul Contreras from third base. Kim and the Titans struck again in the third inning on an RBI fielders’ choice, scoring Hunter Meyer. This would be all the runs Fullerton would produce on the night, but because of Negrete’s lockdown start it was all they would need for the victory. Oregon State scored one to narrow the deficit in the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly off the bat of AJ Singer, but struggled immensely after and recorded just 2 hits from the fifth inning onward.

Oregon State managed just 3 hits all night compared to Cal State Fulllerton’s 11. The Beavers’ 3 hits tie their lowest total on the season, matched only in a loss at Portland on March 17th. The Beavers will be determined to bounce back on Saturday, as they have lost consecutive games just once this season back in February. Those losses were to Southern Mississippi and Purdue; Oregon State has not dropped consecutive games to the same team since being swept by Oregon last April. Cal State Fullerton remains hot and will look to extend their winning streak to four following this contest.

The three game series will continue on Saturday with game two at Goss Stadium in Corvallis. First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 PM PST. Projected pitchers are Oregon State’s Ethan Kleinschmidt (3.97 ERA, 60-17 K/BB) and Cal State Fullerton’s Bobby Mahoney (3.82 ERA, 32-15 K/BB).

Final Score: #6 Oregon State 1, Cal State Fullerton 2

WP: Mikiah Negrete (7-2)

LP: Dax Whitney (5-1)

TheRundownPod Player of the Game: Cal State Fullerton P Mikiah Negrete (9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 6 K, 1 CG, 1 W)