FULLERTON, Calif. — On Cal State Fullerton’s Senior Day, senior Matt Orloff nearly was a hero. With two outs in the ninth inning and the tying run on third base, Orloff rocketed a ball down the third base line that was headed into the left field corner for extra bases.
But UC Riverside third baseman Alex Rubanowitz pivoted with his right foot, pushed off with his left and made a full-extension dive and watched the ball bounce into his glove less than a foot inside the foul line. Rubanowitz sprang to his feet. With his back foot toeing the chalk some five feet behind third base, he fired a strike across the diamond that popped into first baseman Vince Gonzalez’s glove just before Orloff’s foot plodded onto the base.
While it was an unpleasant end to Senior Day at Goodwin Field for Orloff and the Titans (33-18, 15-6), it was a fitting finish to a tense 1-0 pitcher’s duel between Sunday starters Dylan Stuart and Grahamm Wiest.
