Box Score | Interactive Bracket | Regional Central
STANFORD, Calif. - The Big West representative Cal State Fullerton got out to a 3-0 lead but 12 walks doomed the Titans against No. 25 Texas A&M, 12-7, in both teams’ opener at the Stanford Regional of the 2023 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Friday night on Klein Field at Sunken Diamond.

With the defeat, No. 3 seed Fullerton drops to 31-23 overall on the year. Second-seeded Texas A&M, an at-large qualifier out of the Southeastern Conference, improves to 37-25.

A&M advances into the winner’s bracket to take on sixth-ranked host Stanford, the No. 8 national seed, at 6 p.m. PT on Saturday night. The Cardinal used four home runs to power past fourth-seeded Bay Area foe San José State earlier Friday, 13-2. Fullerton falls into an elimination game on Saturday at 12 p.m. versus the Spartans on ESPN+.

Fullerton threatened in the very first half as the lower-seeded visitor, through a hit-by-pitch, wild pitch and walk, but a strikeout ended the frame. A&M’s initial turn began with a five-pitch walk and a single, before Titan starter Tyler Stultz got out of trouble with a strikeout, fielder’s choice ground ball and pickoff.

Maddox Latta opened the second with a double, and the night’s first error put Titans at the corners. An Eli Lopez sacrifice made it 1-0, and a double down the left field line by Jack Haley out of the nine hole doubled the advantage. An infield single and RBI fielder’s choice grounder by senior third baseman Zach Lew put Fullerton up 3-0.

A&M cut into that deficit straight away in the home half, loading the bases with nobody out thanks to two walks around a single. After a Stultz strikeout, Max Kaufer dropped an RBI single in front of centerfielder Moises Guzman to bring up the top of the Aggie order. A five-pitch walk made it a one-run game, followed by a two-run single up the middle by Jack Moss and a sacrifice fly to give A&M a 5-3 edge.

Back-to-back bases on balls began the home third and ended Stultz’s night. The Aggies would fill the bags again and end up with three more scores on consecutive singles by Brett Minnich and Kaufer. Another walk and Ryan Targac’s ninth home run of 2023, and later an RBI Hunter Haas double, increased the bulge to 11-3 in the fourth.

Fullerton pulled a run back in the seventh when Lew belted a one-out double over the centerfielder’s head, and Caden Connor rolled an RBI single through the middle. The Titans used three straight singles, the latter two of them of the pinch-hit variety, and an Aggie throwing error, to tack on a fifth run in the eighth ahead of a two-run single through the left side from Lew that closed them to within four at 11-7.

Stultz (7-5), a senior southpaw, allowed seven runs on four hits and a season-high six walks in 2.0 innings, striking out three. Jason Blood set down nine of the first 10 batters faced in relief, four on strikes. The sophomore right-hander punched out a season-high-tying six over 4.0 frames, with 1-2-3 efforts in the fifth and sixth.

Lew wound up 2-for-3 with a walk, hit-by-pitch, double, run and three RBI. Latta was 2-for-5 with a double and run. Cole Urman scored twice.

The 12 walks on the night marked the second time that Fullerton pitching has issued double-digit free passes this season, with a prior high of 13. A&M is the Division I walks leader, now with 390 drawn.

Fourth-year junior Will Johnston, like Stultz a left-hander, lasted just 1.2 frames and gave up three runs, one of them earned, on three hits and one walk with two strikeouts. Shane Sdao (4-1) retired the first eight Titans in a row after taking over and fanned four over 4.0 no-hit innings.

Friday’s contest marked a 41st all-time NCAA Championship appearance for Fullerton (127-58, .686), and 37th for the Aggies. The teams had last met in 2013, A&M’s first season in the SEC, with the No. 8 Titans taking two of three at home. Fullerton still leads the all-time series, 7-6. Friday was the third postseason matchup between the sides. Fullerton sent A&M home from the 1999 College World Series, 4-2, and also ended the Aggies’ 1988 campaign at the Starkville Regional, 6-3. The Titans are in the field for the first time since winning the Stanford Regional in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018.