Fullerton’s Bats Come Alive, Irvine Falls : College baseball: Back-to-back home runs in third inning lead the Titans to 4-2 Big West Conference victory.

FULLERTON —  After being shut out Friday for the first time in the 20 years of baseball between Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine, the Titans served notice Saturday that they aren’t ready to read their obituary.

Fullerton, having lost four of its previous six games, scored four runs in the third inning and defeated Irvine, 4-2, in a Big West Conference game at Titan Field.

“We didn’t consider ourselves dead,” Fullerton Coach Larry Cochell said. “We think we’ve got a pretty good ballclub. I told the team before the game that we can’t play any worse than we have been playing.”

Fullerton (16-13 and 1-1 in the conference) came alive with a vengeance in the third. Six of the first seven batters got hits and the Titans took a 4-1 lead.

The Titans managed only two infield hits off Chris Huber in the first two innings, but Phil Nevin hit the first pitch of the third inning over the left-center field fence for his seventh home run of the season.

Tom Manley followed with a homer, bouncing it off the top of the right-field fence and emptying the Fullerton bench.

At 5 feet 8 and 165 pounds, Manley doesn’t figure to get many big hits--he bunted for a single in the first inning--but he seemed to relish his first home run of the season.

“I bunt a lot and hit the ball the other way,” Manley said. “That’s my forte. But these guys (teammates) act as if I don’t have any pop. They jumped out of the dugout.

“I have a little pop.”

Manley was starting in left field in place of Paul Bunch, who injured his shoulder in Friday’s game.

After the home runs, Mate Borgogno, Rich Gonzales and Matt Hattabaugh each singled, with Hattabaugh’s hit driving in a run.

Steve Sisco then hit a line drive that shortstop Al Rodriguez knocked down and then picked up to complete an apparent double play. But after 15 minutes of discussion among the umpires and then between the umpires and Irvine Coach Mike Gerakos, it was concluded that Rodriguez dropped the ball intentionally. Sisco was ruled out and the runners sent back to first and second.

After the delay, Joe Sewell replaced Huber (5-1), who took his first loss of the season. Designated hitter Frank Charles then singled to drive in the Titans’ fourth run.

Gerakos said Rodriguez didn’t drop the line drive on purpose.

“That was an important play--it was an extra run we had to make up,” Gerakos said. “(But) we didn’t do the things we need to do to be successful.”

Titan starter James Popoff (4-3) never allowed more than two hits an inning and yielded nine in all. He pitched into the ninth inning and struck out five.

With two on in the eighth inning, Popoff struck out.

Irvine pinch-hitter Fred Combs took a third strike to end the eighth inning, but after Shelby Niss led off the ninth with a single, Popoff was replaced by Chris Robinson, who earned the save by getting Billy Bardens to ground into a double play and Walker to ground to short.

Irvine (22-12, 1-1) scored in the second on Jon Berger’s check-swing groundout, and in the fifth when Bardens and Ray Walker hit back-to-back doubles.