STANFORD, Calif. – Opening the home slate on Friday afternoon from Sunken Diamond, Stanford suffered a 4-2 loss to Cal State Fullerton to drop to 2-3 on the season.
With the win, Cal State Fullerton improved to 2-3 through the first five.
The Cardinal immediately fell behind on Friday, committing a pair of errors in the first inning that resulted in an unearned run charged to senior Nick Dugan.
Dugan did well to limit the damage to just the one run, recording two of his five strikeouts in the opening stanza.
Still leading 1-0 headed to the fourth, the Titans added two more runs on a two-run home run from Britton Beeson off Dugan. The home run, Beeson’s first of the season, extended the Fullerton lead to 3-0.
Dugan was ultimately saddled with the loss and dropped to 0-1 after allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks while striking out six over 5 1/3 innings.
Sophomore JJ Moran put the Cardinal on the board in the bottom of the fifth, connecting for his first home run of the season with a line drive over the wall in right-center field to run the tally to 3-1. The round-tripper was the second of Moran’s career.
The two teams traded sac flies for a run apiece in the seventh inning, but Stanford had a golden opportunity for more. The first two batters of the inning walked before Luke Lavin punched a single into right field to load the bases. Ethan Hott followed by hitting into a fielder’s choice that forced out the lead runner at the plate before the sac fly and a ground ball ended the threat.
Senior right-hander Kassius Thomas and junior righty Ben Reimers each pitched well in the setback, with Thomas retiring the only two batters he faced in the sixth. Reimers tossed the final two scoreless frames, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out a pair.
Cal State Fullerton starter Mikiah Negrete worked six strong innings to record the victory and move to 2-0, allowing five hits, including the homer to Moran, and one walk while striking out seven.
Titan closer Andrew Wright logged a scoreless ninth inning, working around an error, to record his second save of the season.
The Cardinal and Titans will continue a four-game series on Saturday when they play a doubleheader beginning at 12:05 p.m. Game four of the series is still to be determined, but will be contested either Sunday or Monday depending on the weather forecast.
GAME NOTES:
- The loss snapped a five-game win streak for Stanford over Cal State Fullerton
- Ethan Hott (1-for-4) has reached in all four of his games played this year, and six straight games dating back to the end of the 2025 season
- Eric Jeon (0-for-1) and Teddy Tokheim (0-for-1) each made their Stanford debuts as pinch hitters in the ninth inning, with Tokheim’s appearance also serving as his collegiate debut
- Luke Lavin (1-for-3) has reached in all five games this season to stretch his reached base streak to 11 games dating back to the end of the 2025 season
- Tatum Marsh (1-for-4) has reached safely in 15 straight games dating back to the end of the 2025 season
- JJ Moran (1-for-3, 2 R, HR, BB, RBI) has hit safely in each of the first five games this season
- Jimmy Nati (2-for-4) managed his first multi-hit game of the year
- Rintaro Sasaki has reached in all five games to start the season after drawing a walk on Friday