June 19, 2007

'Eaters oust the Titans
CWS: Irvine scores in 13th to win longest game in series history.
Associated Press

Longtime friends Dave Serrano and George Horton shared an embrace moments after UC Irvine had beaten Cal State Fullerton 5-4 in the longest game in College World Series history Monday.

The two coaches just as easily could have collapsed together in exhaustion after a tense elimination game between Serrano's upstart Anteaters and his mentor's tournament-tested Titans.

"I told him I loved him and thanks for everything," Serrano said. "He said. 'I'm proud of you. Continue to move on and win this thing.' "

Bryan Petersen's run-scoring single to center field in the bottom of the 13th inning ended the 5-hour, 40-minute affair and sent the Titans home after two games for the first time in nine CWS appearances since 1990.

Meanwhile, the Anteaters (46-16-1) play on in their first trip to Omaha, meeting Arizona State tonight. Fullerton (38-25) was knocked out after losing for the third time in four games with the Anteaters this season.

The 97th meeting of the neighborhood rivals came more than 1,500 miles away from their Orange County campuses, on the game's biggest stage.

Tension ran high, with a CWS record eight batters getting hit by pitches.

Oregon St. 12, Arizona St. 6: Mike

The defending champion Beavers, who had seven hits in a 3-2 win over Fullerton Saturday, scored every inning until the seventh and finished with 18 hits.

The Beavers (46-18) play Wednesday against the winner of tonight's game between UC Irvine and Arizona State.