FULLERTON, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton softball team concluded opening weekend with a busy Sunday as the Titans collected their first win of the season over North Dakota State before dropping two games to Pacific on the final day of the Easton Invitational at Anderson Family Field.
In their first win of the season, Fullerton put together a deadly combo of timely hitting from catcher Lexi Gonzalez and tremendous relief from starter Trisha Parks to defeat the Bison (1-4), 4-2. Unfortunately, the Titans' bats went cold in their final two games of the day with shutout losses (6-0 & 3-0) to Pacific (4-2).
With the mixed results on Sunday, the Titans move to 1-3 on the young season as they get ready to make an international trip to Mexico for the Puerto Vallarta Challenge on Thursday.
Game One (10 a.m. vs. North Dakota State)
After a slow start in the first inning to Utah State yesterday, the Fullerton early inning woes continued against North Dakota State on Sunday morning. The Bison got on the board early as they collected a leadoff single, followed by a two-run homer to centerfield to grab a 2-0 advantage in the first.
However, Samantha Vandiver got the Fullerton offense going early with a leadoff double before Gonzalez hammered a shot to left field that cleared the fence for a two-run home run, putting the Titans even with the Bison at two.
After two innings of work, Sydney Golden's time in the circle was done as she surrendered two runs, three hits and struck out one. The 2016 Big West Pitcher of the Year was relieved by Parks to start the third and the Arizona transfer shutdown the Bison.
Parks (1-1) held North Dakota State to two hits in five innings of work and fanned eight to keep the score even until the sixth.
In the sixth, Gonzalez came thru again for the Titans as the senior bulleted a double to center to drive in pinch-runner Ariana Williams from second and give Fullerton a 3-2 edge late.
After a pop-up, freshman Zoe Richard added some insurance for the Titans with an RBI single to centerfield, putting her team up 4-2.
Parks dominance continued in the seventh as she struck out Stephanie Soriano and Tabby Heinz to collect her first win with Fullerton.
Game Two (Conclusion of Friday's postponed game vs. Pacific)
Having left off in the fourth inning, Fullerton and Pacific completed Friday's postponed game on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers jumped on top in the first three innings on Friday with a two-RBI from Sydney Lahners who gave Pacific a 2-0 lead heading into Sunday.
Titan Cerissa Rivera took over Golden's start from Friday and got out of trouble in her first inning of work, but couldn't find her way out of the fifth. Pacific's Samantha Owen made Rivera pay with a ball in the middle of the zone as she crushed it for a three-run shot to left field, giving the Tigers a 5-0 lead.
Fullerton struggled to group some hits together against Tigers pitcher Hailey Reed on Friday with the same trend continuing on Sunday as Cassidy Gustafson kept the Titan bats in check by only surrendering four hits in four innings to give Pacific a 6-0 victory over Fullerton.
Titan pitchers Nyah Rodman and Sophie Frost also appeared in the relief for Fullerton with Frost posting two shutout frames and Rodman giving up a one run in a third of an inning pitched.
Game Three (2:32 p.m. vs. Pacific)
After a tough-loss to the Tigers, Fullerton had a chance to get some revenge in the final game of the Easton Invitational against Pacific with senior Kelsey Kessler on the mount.
However, a costly error from Samantha Vandiver with two outs in the first inning led to big trouble for the Titans as Gustafson made Fullerton pay with a three-run shot to left, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead early.
From that point on, Kessler didn't miss a beat as she retired nine-straight and only surrendered one hit through the next five innings before being relieved one out into the sixth by Frost.
Kessler's first career start with Fullerton proved to be a good one as the Blue Springs, Mo., native struck out five, had zero earned runs and allowed only three hits in six-plus innings of work.
With the strong performance in the circle, the Titans tried to provide their pitcher with some runs but couldn't find a rhythm against Gustafson. The Tigers' pitcher didn't allow a baserunner to Fullerton for five-straight innings before Gonzalez singled to start the seventh.
In the seventh, the Titans looked to have a rally on with a Gonzalez singling up the middle, but pinch-hitter Sydney Colenzo had some bad luck as she hit a liner to third that got turned into a double play.
The double play would be followed with a groundout and the Tigers went on to defeat the Titans, 3-0.
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