A LOOK AT THE WEEK
After dropping a midweek contest (Apr. 10) versus San Diego State, 2-1,and two of three games against Hawai'i this past weekend, the Cal State Fullerton softball team (17-25 overall, 4-8 Big West Conference) heads on the road to take on conference foe UC Riverside on Wednesday, April 17. Fullerton then returns to Anderson Family Field this Saturday, April 20, to square off against the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Fullerton will play two games on Wed. April 17 against UC Riverside starting at 1 p.m. UNLV and Cal State Fullerton will meet in a doubleheader on Saturday (April 20) at 1 & 3 p.m.
IN THE POLLS
Neither the Titans, Highlanders, or Rebels are ranked in the top 25 polls.
RPI
The Titans currently rank 56th in the nation in Rating Percentage Index (RPI). RPI measures a team's wins and losses and its strength of schedule. Fullerton has played against four teams currently ranked in the top 10 and against eight teams in the top 25.
BE A FOLLOWER
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan athletics by following us on Facebook (CSUF Athletics), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) and Youtube (www.youtube.com/CSFAthletics). Also follow the softball Twitter (@CSUFsoftball).
I NEED STATS, STAT!
Live stats will be provided for all three games this week. To access live stats for the games, go to www.FullertonTitans.com and go to the softball schedule then click live stats.
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
Cal State Fullerton home softball contests will be broadcast live over the Internet at FullertonTitans.com. To access the links, click on the audio link on the schedule page.
CAN YOU SEE ME NOW? EVEN BETTER!
Cal State Fullerton Athletics now offers live streaming video for home softball contests over the Internet courtesy of the Big West TV. Fans can catch all the exclusive action from the comfort of their home computers. For more information, please visit www.BigWest.org/TV.
SCOUTING UC RIVERSIDE
The Highlanders (16-24 overall, 0-9 Big West) enter the mid-week doubleheader on a high note after defeating San Diego State 6-5 on April 13. Prior to that UC Riverside had dropped nine straight Big West contests, Pacific, Long Beach State, and Hawai'i. The Highlanders are led by first year head coach Linda Garza. Garza comes to Riverside after serving two season at Cal Poly as the associate head coach. UCR is 12-8 at home this season. Kayla White leads the UCR offense, batting .328 with nine home runs, 23 RBI's, and 14 stolen bases. Dionne Anderson (.301, 13 RBI's) and Ashley Ercolano (.255, 24 RBI's) add to the Highlander offense, which is batting .265 as a team. The Highlander have three pitchers who have all seen equal time in the circle, Ercolano (6-8, 4.94), Alyssa Razo (7-9, 4.95), and Taylor Alvarez (2-5, 5.91). UCR has been outscored 236-145 this season and have a 16-22 record during the day.
SCOUTING UNLV
The Rebels enter the weekend with an 18-23 record overall and 4-5 in the Mountain West. UNLV has won their last four of six games, but have lost three straight away games. UNLV is led by first year head coach Lisa Dodd, who was an assistant coach at Oregon last season. Stefany Valentino leads the team in batting average hitting .422 with three home runs and 17 RBI's. Tayler Aleman has added 24 RBI's and Pauline Monreal has added 22 RBI's. The Rebels are hitting .266 as a team with 25 stolen bases. Amanda Oliveto is the ace in the circle for the Rebels she has started 30 games this season tossing 20 complete games to go along with a 15-11 record, 2.78 ERA. Francesca Foti has also assisted in the circle with a 2-9 record in 17 appearances.
SERIES HISTORIES
The Titans control the series over UC Riverside 29-8, but the last few years the Highlanders and Titans have split the contests. The Titans won the first 23 of 24 meetings between the two schools. Fullerton is 15-2 in Riverside, Calif. and are 25-8 in Big West play against the Highlanders. Fullerton leads the all-time series versus UNLV 38-22-1 with the Titans winning the last seven of nine meetings. The Titans are 20-10 versus the Rebels at Anderson Family Field and won the last meeting in Fullerton, Calif. 5-1 on April 27, 2006.
CONFERENCE CALL
Since the Big West conference started sponsoring softball 27 years ago, the Titans have a combined record of 375-171-1 (.686) against all-time Big West opponents. Fullerton has an all-time record of 120-58-1 (.673) against Mountain West Conference opponents.
NEW LOOK BIG WEST
The Big West Conference Board of Directors announced on Dec. 10, 2010 that Hawai'i will re-join the Big West as of July 2012. The Warriors, women's programs were previously part of the Big West from 1984-96. The Titans and Warriors will face off on April 13-14 at Anderson Family Field.
PLAYING SPOILER
The Titans have taken down four top 25 ranked opponents this season, which is tied for most in the Big West. This past weekend the Titans defeated No. 15 Hawai'i 11-3 at Anderson Family Field. On Feb. 26th, Fullerton defeated No. 10 11-5 at Easton Stadium in Los Angeles and defeated No. 7 Missouri 5-4 on Feb. 23, 2013 at Anderson Family Field. Fullerton also defeated No. 21 Virginia Tech 7-3 at the Judi Garman Classic on Mar. 16. The last time the Titans took down a top ten team was on March 15, 2009 when they defeated the University of Washington 3-2 at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif.
BATTLE OF THE FIRST YEAR HEAD COACHES
Cal State Fullerton head coach Kelly Ford is in her first season and when the Titans face off against UC Riverside and UNLV she won't be the only coach in her first season. UC Riverside is led by Linda Garza, who was an associate head coach at Cal Poly for two season. Lisa Dodd is the head coach at UNLV and takes over a Rebel program after being an assistant at the University of Oregon for three years.
RUNS, RUNS, RUNS
Against Hawai'i last weekend, the Titans scored their most runs since UCLA (Feb. 26) scoring 11 runs on April 14. However, the Titans gave up 14 runs the day before (Apr. 13) to Hawai'i, which is tied for the most allowed all season (Stanford 14-1 on Mar. 2).
TRIPLES
UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton are tied for the most triples in the Big West with nine. The Highlanders are led by Kayla White who has four and the Titans are led by Ariel Tsuchiyama who has two. Fullerton has allowed the most triple this season in the Big West (3).
HIGHLANDERS STOLEN BASES
UC Riverside leads the Big West in stolen bases with 70, including 21 from senior Ariel Shore. However, the Titans have thrown out the most runners attempting to steal a base (15). UC Riverside has allowed the second most (40) stolen bases this season in the Big West. Fullerton catcher Ariel Tsuchiyama has thrown out 12 base runners this season.
WILD PITCHES AND ERRORS
The Titans rank 23rd in the NCAA in fielding percentage and have committed 35 errors this season. However, UC Riverside has committed 57 errors, most in the Big West, and rank 212th in the NCAA. The Highlanders have also thrown 31 wild pitches this season.
HAWAI'I'S FIRST BIG WEST LOSS
The Titans handed the University of Hawai'i their first Big West Loss of the season on April 14. Fullerton run-ruled the Rainbow Wahine 11-3.
LABAN MOVING UP ON RECORDS
Senior Katey Laban recorded her second save of the season and fourth in her career moving her up to sixth all-time in career saves for a Cal State Fullerton pitcher.
PITCHING RECOVERY
In 51 games last season the Titans pitching staff finished with a 5.20 ERA. In 2013, the Titans pitching staff holds a 3.53 ERA, which is the best earned run average by a Fullerton softball team since 2009 (2.59).
CRAWFORD ENJOYING BREAKOUT ROLE
After hitting only three home runs and recording 28 RBI's through her first two seasons as a Titan, red-shirt sophomore Eliza Crawford has batted .305 with six home runs and 22 RBI's. Crawford is tied for the lead in home runs and leads the team in RBI's. Through nine Big West games, Crawford is batting .378 with two home runs and eight RBI's. The Lakewood, Calif. native has also managed nine multiple hit games this season and seven multiple RBI games this season.
GETTIN' ON THE BOARD FIRST
When the Titans score first in a game they are 12-3 compared to 5-22 when the opposing team scores first. Fullerton scored the first four runs of the game versus Long Beach State last Sunday April 7th, but would eventually lose the game 7-4.
WE NEED HITS
The Titans are batting .248 this season and .274 in conference play, but when Cal State Fullerton out-hits the opponent they are 14-2 compared to 3-20 when the opponent out-hits them. The Titans have produced 13 hits in one game, the most this season, four different times. Last time the time the Titans had 13 hits was versus UC Santa Barbara on March 23. Recently, the Titans had 12 hits versus No. 15 Hawai'i (W, 11-3).
TAKE CARE OF THE SOFTBALL
Cal State Fullerton are only 11-10 when they commit no errors in a game and 6-15 when they do commit an error. Prior to this last week the Titans had only committed four errors in the past 116 innings, but this week the Titans committed two errors in each game they played last week. Fullerton still ranks first in the Big West in fielding percentage (.970) compared to UC Davis (.968). The Titans rank 23rd in the NCAA in fielding percentage.
CONTROLLING THE LEAD
The Titans have been perfect so far this season when leading after five innings. Fullerton is 12-0 in games they have led after five innings and a whopping 13-0 after six innings. However, they are 3-18 when trailing after four innings. Cal State Fullerton's only comeback win came against UC Santa Barbara on March 23 when they scored six runs in the last two innings after trailing 3-0.
CARTER STEALING BASES
Carter is finding a way to get on base and this season she leads the team with 11 stolen bases. The Fontana, Calif. native swiped three bases versus UC Santa Barbara Carter. The senior had only stolen 11 bases in her career (three seasons) prior to this season.
BIG WEST STOLEN BASES
After 12 Big West Conference games, the Cal State Fullerton softball team leads the Big West in stolen bases with 18. The Titans have the third most stolen bases (48) in the Big West for the whole season.
SACRIFICE FLIES
Sophomore Desiree Ybarra currently is tied in the NCAA in sacrifice flies with six and the Titans as a team have the most in the Big West 12.
SHOULDERING THE LOAD
In 34 appearances, 29 starts, as a freshman, Antunez is second in the Big West in appearances (34), fourth in strikeouts (136), and third in innings pitched (137.2). Antunez is holding opponents to a .227 batting average this season, which ranks third in the Big West.
YBARRA DOES IT ALL
Sophomore Desiree Ybarra was the Titan's ace last season, but this season she has contributed not only in the circle, but at the plate as well. Ybarra in the circle is 5-11 with one save. Ybarra has closed out 20 games for the Titans this season, which is the most in the Big West. Ybarra's bat has been a big addition for the Titans. The Riverside, Calif. native has a .259 batting average, two home runs, and 17 RBI's.
WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER
Nine different Titans have tallied game-winning hits this season, led by three from Jasmine Antunez.
SOMEONE TURNED UP THE A.C
After blasting a triple to the center field fence in game two versus McNeese State on Feb. 11, 2013, Ashley Carter moved up to fourth on the all-time list in career triples with nine tieing Carey Hess, who played for the Titans from 1987-90.
IRON WOMEN
Catcher Ariel Tsuchiyama has started all, but two games behind the backstop for the Titans this season, while leading the Titans with eight doubles and has 20 RBI's to go along with her .306 batting average. She missed all of 2012 due to an injury.
SAVES
Cal State Fullerton is tied with Long Beach State for most saves in the Big West with four . Each Titan pitcher has recorded a save this season, and senior Katey Laban has two.
FORD UPDATES 2013 SEASON: Cal State Fullerton Head Coach Kelly Ford sat down with the sports information staff to discuss the 2013 season thus far. Filmed by department videographer Matt Brown, fans can view the entire video via Youtube.com/CSFAthletics.
GETTING ON BASE
The Titans are last in the Big West in on-base percentage (.302) compared to Hawai'i who has an on-base percentage of .376.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Eliza Crawford, Desiree Ybarra, and Ariel Tsuchiyama have combined for 23 doubles this season.
DEBUTS AND TITAN CAREER FIRSTS
Freshman Monique Wesley made her first career appearance as a Titan in the circle tossing one inning versus Arizona State on March 14. Junior Kailey Mertz, transfer from San Jose State, recorded her first hit against Charleston Southern. Mertz hit an RBI single up the middle giving the Titans a 10-2 victory enforcing an eight-run rule. Freshman Cami Jacob managed her first hit of her career after driving a double down the left field line against Charleston Southern on March 8th during the Long Beach State Invitational.
COMEBACK!
The Titans secured their biggest and latest comeback win of the season. Trailing 3-0 after five innings, Fullerton came back to score three in the sixth and three in the seventh to capture a 6-3 victory over UC Santa Barbara on March 23.
HOME IS WHERE THE POWER IS
The Titans at Anderson Family Field have belted 15 of their 20 home runs this season. On March 8 versus Charleston Southern the Titans slugged three round-trippers.
ROAD WARRIORS
The Titans have played seven away games this season (4-3) coming against UCLA, Santa Barbara, and Long Beach State. The Titans last season were 5-10 on the road and have not had a winning road record since the 2009 season.
SUPER MARIO
Cal State Fullerton second baseman Lauren Mario belted two home runs versus Charleston Southern, which is the first time a Titan batter has hit two home runs in a game since Anissa Young crushed two against Michigan State on March 4, 2012.
RECYCLED NOTES:
NEW ERA
Head Coach Kelly Ford began her first stint as the head coach of Cal State Fullerton softball program on Feb. 7, 2013. Ford recorded her first win in game two versus Southern Miss, 4-2. Ford spent 11 seasons at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif., recording a 455-102-1 record overall (.812 winning percentage). Prior to her time at Mt. SAC, Ford worked under former coach Michelle Gromacki as an assistant in 2000 and 2001.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE TITANS
Fullerton finished sixth in the Big West race a season ago with a 8-13 mark in conference play to go along with a 20-31 overall record. The Titans return six position starters and three pitchers while welcoming nine newcomers to the fold for the 2013 season. Leading the way for returners is senior outfielder Ashley Carter, an all-conference first-team selection who hit .325 to go along with 55 hits and 27 runs scored. In the circle, sophomore Desiree Ybarra returns after earning all-conference honorable mention accolades a season ago, finishing 13-17 with a 4.66 ERA.
FIVE SIGN WITH CAL STATE FULLERTON FOR 2014
Cal State Fullerton softball Head Coach Kelly Ford announced that high school standouts Sydney Colenzo, Megan Estacio, Olivia Martinez, Delynn Rippy, and Kayla Silverstein have signed National Letters of Intent to continue their academic and athletic careers with the Titans beginning with the 2014 season.
FORD PREVIEWS 2013: Cal State Fullerton Head Coach Kelly Ford and Associate Head Coach Dee Dee Kingsbury sat down with the sports information staff to discuss the upcoming 2013 campaign. Filmed by department videographer Matt Brown, fans can view the entire video via Youtube.com/CSFAthletics.
PLAYING JAPAN TOYOTA
The Titans played against the Japan Toyota professional softball team on Wednesday February 20, 2013 at Anderson Family Field, losing 7-1. The Titans and Japan Toyota played seven-inning exhibition contest, as Japan Toyota gets ready for their upcoming season. Team Toyota comes over to the United States annually to play collegiate and professional teams to prepare for the Japan Softball League. Team Toyota features USA Softball Olympians Monica Abbott and Natasha Watley, who have won back-to-back Japan Softball League Championships (2011 & 2012).
PRESEASON POLL
The Cal State Fullerton softball team was picked to finish sixth in the race for the 2013 Big West Conference title according to a vote of the league's head coaches released on Jan. 30, 2013. The Titans received 33 points to finish behind newcomer Hawai'i, which received four first-place votes and 76 points to top defending champion Long Beach State (73 points):
1. Hawai'i, 76
2. Long Beach State, 73
3. Pacific, 58
4. UC Santa Barbara, 52
5. UC Davis, 51
6. Cal State Fullerton, 33
7. Cal Poly, 24
8. UC Riverside, 22
9. Cal State Northridge, 16
WE'RE HONORED
Cal State Fullerton placed seven players on the 2012 Big West Conference all-league honors: Ashley Carter, Leesa Harris, Nicole Johnson, Morgan LeMond, Adriana Martinez, Desiree Ybarra, and Anissa Young). Three of those all-conference honorees return for 2013: Ashley Carter, Leesa Harris, and Desiree Ybarra.
TITANS VERSUS RANKED TEAMS
DATE OPPONENT LOCATION RESULT
FEB. 17 No. 7 Oregon Las Vegas, Nev. L, 6-0
FEB. 21 No. 4 Tennessee Palm Springs, Calif. L, 5-0
FEB. 23 No. 7 Missouri Fullerton, Calif. W, 5-4
FEB. 23 No. 7 Missouri Fullerton, Calif. L, 7-0
FEB. 26 No. 10 UCLA Los Angeles, Calif. W, 11-5
MAR. 2 No. 15 Stanford Fullerton, Calif. L, 14-1
MAR. 7 No. 24 Virginia Tech Lakewood, Calif. L, 3-2
MAR. 14 No. 2 Arizona State Fullerton, Calif. L, 9-0
MAR. 16 No. 21 Virginia Tech Fullerton, Calif. W, 7-3
MAR. 17 No. 1 Oklahoma Fullerton, Calif. L, 9-0
APR. 14 No. 15 Hawai'i Fullerton, Calif. W, 11-3
*Ranking when game occurred