Pepperdine second baseman Steve Rodriguez drove in a run and ended a California State Fullerton rally in the eighth inning Saturday, leading the Waves to the 1992 College World Series championship with a 3-2 victory over the Titans.
A crowd of 17,962 people showed up at Rosenblatt Stadium for the series finale between two southern California teams separated by just 40 miles. The crowd pushed this year's CWS total attendance to a record 154,206.With two men out, Titan runners on the corners and the Waves clinging to a 3-2 lead in the eighth, Rodriguez dove to his left stabbing a line drive off the bat of Tony Banks, scrambled to his feet and threw out Banks by two steps.
The play ended a troublesome inning for reliever Steve Montgomery, who came on in the eighth and got into trouble by hitting the first two batters he faced. After a sacrifice advanced the runners to second and third, Montgomery intentionally walked Phil Nevin, the No. 1 pick in the major league draft, to load the bases. Jason Moler drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2, setting the stage for Rodriguez's heroics.
Starting pitcher Patrick Ahearne picked up his second win of the series. He pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up one run, striking out two and walking two. He didn't allow a hit or a baserunner until the fourth inning.
Ahearne, also named to the all-tournament team, finishes the season with a 15-2 record.
Derek Wallace and Montgomery combined to pitch the last 2 1/3 innings to close out the game. Montgomery picked up the save, his second of the series and ninth of the season.
Wallace came on in relief in the seventh with two outs and a man on second base. After giving up a hit to advanced the Titans' Tony Banks to third, Wallace struck out catcher D.C. Olsen to retire the side and the scoring threat.
The Titans got on the board with a run in the fourth inning. Center fielder Chris Powell walked, moved to third on Nevin's single off the glove of Ekdahl and then scored on a wild pitch by Ahearne to Jason Moler.
Fullerton finishes the season at 46-17.