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June 6, 2009

Box Score |  Quotes

FULLERTON, Calif. - The No. 3 ranked Cal State Fullerton Titans put up three runs in the first inning and never looked back en route to a 12-0 win over the 12th-ranked Louisville Cardinals in Friday night's NCAA Super Regional opener in front of a season-high 3,362 fans at Goodwin Field.

Louisville (47-17) will start junior lefty Justin Marks on the mound against No. 2 national seed Cal State Fullerton (46-14) in a must-win game on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN. If the Cardinals can earn a win in Game 1 of the Fullerton Super Regional on Saturday, they would set up a Sunday night showdown at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2 with the winner advancing to next week's College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

The 12-run margin is the largest margin of defeat for the Cardinals in their three seasons under the direction of head coach Dan McDonnell and the shutout is just the second against Louisville this season and the fourth in the last three seasons.

Sophomore lefty Dean Kiekhefer took the loss in the starting role for the Cardinals after allowing six runs on nine hits with three strikeouts in 4.1 innings to fall to 6-5 on the season, while Cal State Fullerton starter Daniel Renken went the distance for his third complete game of the season after allowing just three hits with 10 strikeouts to improve to 11-2 overall.

At the plate, the three hits was a season-low for the Cardinals as junior first baseman Andrew Clark, sophomore designated hitter Phil Wunderlich and freshman outfielder Ryan Wright were the only Louisville players with hits off Renken. For the Titans, first baseman Jared Clark led the way at the plate going 4-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored, designated hitter Khris Davis was 4-for-5 with two RBI.

After a scoreless first inning for the Cardinals, Cal State Fullerton took command in the bottom of the first with three runs on three hits. Shortstop Christian Colon led things off with a single through the left side and moved to second with his 14th stolen base of the season. After rightfielder Gary Brown was hit by a pitch from Louisville lefty starter Dean Kiekhefer, both Colon and Brown advanced on a successful sacrifice bunt by centerfielder Josh Fellhauer.

Jared Clark then followed with a two-run double down the left field line to score Colon and Brown for a 2-0 advantage for the Titans. Fullerton closed the scored with an RBI single to left center by Davis to score Clark for a 3-0 lead after the first.

Following a pair of scoreless innings, the Titans added another run in the fourth to push their lead to 4-0. Second baseman Joe Scott started things off with a one-out single to center, moved to third on a single down the right field line by third baseman Joey Siddons and then scored on an RBI sacrifice fly to center by Colon.

The Titans pushed their lead to 7-0 in the fifth thanks to four hits. Fellhauer led off the inning with his sixth home run of the season over the wall in right field for the first run of the inning. Jared Clark followed with a single to left field and then scored on an RBI double to left center by Davis, who was thrown out at third base on the play.

Kiekhefer was then replaced on the mound by sophomore righty Tyler Mathis, who hit the first batter he faced in catcher Dustin Garneau. After leftfielder Jeff Newman was retired on a sacrifice bunt to the right side by Cards' first baseman Andrew Clark, Garneau scored from second on an RBI double to right center by Scott for the seven-run advantage.

Cal State Fullerton kept the pedal down in the sixth inning with two more runs on four hits. Colon led off with a single through the right side off Mathis and scored moments later on an RBI triple to left field by Brown for an 8-0 lead. After Fellhauer lined out to the pitcher, Mathis was replaced on the mound by sophomore righty Neil Holland. Jared Clark welcomed Holland with an RBI single to left field to score Brown for the 9-0 lead after six innings.

The Titans added three more runs in the seventh inning as Jared Clark picked up an RBI infield single to score Scott, while Colon and Fellhauer both scored on a throwing error by Cards' shortstop John Dao for a 12-0 lead after seven and the final margin of defeat for Louisville.

Louisville Notes
- With the Cardinals' loss on Friday night, teams from the Eastern Time Zone dropped to 1-7 in NCAA Super Regional games played in the Pacific Time Zone since the current format was adopted for the 1999 season. Louisville is just the fourth team from the Eastern Time Zone to play a Super Regional in the Pacific Time Zone. Michigan lost both games at Oregon State in 2007, South Carolina lost two of three at Stanford in 2001 and Florida International dropped both games at USC in 2001.

- With the loss, the 2009 Cardinals remain tied with the 2007 squad for the most wins in school history with 47. The 2009 team enters Saturday's must-win game at 47-17 overall, while the 2007 team finished 47-24 overall after advancing to the College World Series for the first time in school history.

- Friday night's loss marked just the fourth time in Dan McDonnell's three seasons as head coach that the Cardinals have been shutout. On March 28, Louisville lost 6-0 at Seton Hall for its only other shutout loss this season. On March 16, 2008, Louisville lost 9-0 at home to Kent State, while the first shutout loss under McDonnell was a 1-0 loss at Villanova on March 24, 2007.

- Prior to Friday night's loss to the Titans, the Cardinals' previous worst loss in head coach Dan McDonnell's three seasons was a 17-6 defeat at Vanderbilt on March 4, 2008.