DAVIS, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton junior Courtney Rodriguez capped off a four-run seventh inning with a two-run single which led to scoring the go-ahead run on a three-base error to erase a three-run deficit to shock the Aggies and spoil Senior Day with a 7-6 decision to clinch the Big West softball series over UC Davis at La Rue Field on Sunday afternoon.
Trailing 6-3 and down to their final three outs, the Titans (32-21, 10-8) began their unlikely comeback over the Aggies (18-28, 6-12) with a free base on a hit by pitch on Fullerton, Calif. native Gabrielle Rodas. It took just a few pitches before Rodas quickly scurried over to second with her third stolen base of the season. The second consecutive pinch hitter to the plate was Sydney Colenzo who came through with an RBI single to center to bring Rodas home and cut the deficit down to 6-4.
Fullerton junior Missy Taukeiaho roped a one-out double and her second of the game over UC Davis' center fielder's head to continue the rally and was later replaced by pinch runner Brooke Clemetson. With Colenzo advancing to third to place two runners in scoring position, the decisive play came from Rodriguez with a routine single to right field that was misplayed by UCD right fielder Jasmine Lee which skipped all the way to the wall. With Colenzo and Clemetson scoring with ease, Rodriguez, the team leader with 13 stolen bases, used her speed to round third and capitalize on the rare three-base error to stretch a single into the game-winning run single handedly.
Desiree Ybarra (10-6) became the second Titan to reach a double-digit win total after tossing the final three and 1/3 innings of relief. The left-hander from Riverside, Calif. limited the active Aggies' offense to two runs on four hits.
Cal State Fullerton's Cerissa Rivera was given the start and allowed a two-run homer to UCD catcher Lauryn Saunders in her only inning of work before giving way to reliever Christina Washington who turned in the middle two and 2/3 frames. Washington yielded two runs on four hits and walked a trio of Aggies.
After falling behind in the very first inning following Saunders' round-tripper, Fullerton responded with one run over the next few frames via sacrifice fly outs from Taukeiaho in the third inning and senior Eliza Crawford in the fourth. The Aggies held the Titans off with their own runs in the same frames with a bases loaded walk and an RBI single from Christa Castello, respectively.
In the fifth frame, the Titans strung together another pair of one-out hits with a single up the middle from Sammie Vandiver, later followed by Taukeiaho's double to right to put a pair of Titans in scoring position. Rodriguez provided another productive out by grounding out to second base which scored the charging Vandiver from third to close the gap to a slim 4-3 edge.
Continuing to threaten inning after inning, the bottom half of the fifth was no different for UCD as an RBI single from Krista Bava and the second bases loaded walk surrendered by Fullerton pitching plated two insurance runs to extend the Aggies' lead to a more comfortable 6-3 advantage before heroics by Rodriguez and company capped off the ninth comeback win of the season in dramatic fashion.
Taukeiaho (2-for-3) collected one RBI and Moore (3-for-4) scored once to round out the Titans' multi-hit efforts.
Cal State Fullerton returns home for the final Big West set of the season hosting first-place CSUN with the series opener on Friday, May 8 at 5 p.m., followed by a Senior Day doubleheader on Saturday, May 9 at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. at Anderson Family Field in Fullerton, Calif. The wonderful careers of Titan seniors Eliza Crawford, Samantha Galarza and Emily Vizcarra will be honored on Saturday.
Game Notes: The two triples recorded by Fullerton's Sarah Moore and Delynn Rippy is the most for any single-game this season...The Titans are now 8-6 in one-run games…Fullerton now holds a 19-11 all-time series record over the Aggies, while being 7-4 on Sunday's and 6-8 on the road…Rodriguez collected her team-high 11th multi-RBI game of the season…Vandiver (1-for-3) extended her hitting-streak to a team-high 10 games…Moore chalked up the second three-hit performance of her Titan career…The CSF pitching staff failed to record a strikeout in the win.
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