Fullerton Edges Long Beach

Richie Burgos hit a double off the glove of Long Beach second baseman Chuck Sindlinger to break an eighth-inning tie and give Cal State Fullerton a 4-3 victory in a Big West Conference battle for first place Friday night in front of 2,923 at Fullerton.

Burgos’ sharp grounder brought in Kyle Boyer after the 49ers tied the score, 3-3, in the top of the eighth on John Bowker’s run-scoring double.

Third-ranked Long Beach (36-15, 15-4) threatened in the ninth after Brad Davis led off with a double. Davis moved to third on a bunt, but Titan closer Chad Cordero got pinch-hitter Chris Hanson on a slow grounder and Todd Jennings on a fly ball to end the game.

The victory pulled fourth-ranked Fullerton (42-12, 14-5) to within one game of the 49ers with two games left in the series and the conference season.

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UCLA pitcher Keira Goerl limited Fresno State to two hits in leading the Bruins to a 3-0 victory in a winners’ bracket game of the NCAA softball regionals at Fresno. Goerl struck out five and walked one in seven innings to improve her record to 33-6.

Toria Auelua, Tairia Mims and Monique Mejia each delivered run-scoring singles for the Bruins (47-6), who today will play Michigan State, a 4-3 winner over Georgia, in a winners’ bracket semifinal.

Georgia later eliminated Long Beach State, 2-1, in eight innings.

At Fullerton, Brooke Mitchell threw a shutout for the second consecutive day to lead Louisiana Lafayette to a 1-0 victory over Cal State Fullerton in a winners’ bracket game.

Lafayette (40-14) today will play Oklahoma State, a 2-1 winner over Oregon, in a winners’ bracket semifinal.

Fullerton later kept itself alive in an elimination game with an 8-0 six-inning victory over Penn State.

In an elimination game at Tucson, South Carolina defeated Cal State Northridge, 5-3.

-- Eric Stephens