FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton (28-20, 13-1 BWC) picked up a pair of comeback victories over UC Davis (24-20, 6-8 BWC) to win their fifth straight series on Saturday.
Sophie Frost got the game one start in the circle for the Titans and did what she's done all year going the distance. In her seven innings of work, she allowed two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out six. The victory moved her to 12-5 on the season and 6-1 in conference play.
The offense was led by Sammie Vandiver and Zoe Richard as each recorded 2-3 performances with an RBI each. Julia Valenzuela recorded the other Titan RBI going 1-3 at the plate. Ari Williams, Bryanna Ybarra, and Shianne Brannan all went 1-3 in the contest while Deshea Hill rounded out the offense going 1-2.
It was a pitcher's duel for the first three innings of the ballgame as neither team could do much of anything. That ended in the fourth though, when UC Davis came to the plate and brought two runs across on a two RBI double from Brooke Yanez.
However, Fullerton responded immediately plating four runs of their own in the bottom half of the fourth. After a walk and a single opened up the inning, Richard came up with an RBI single to right field to bring in one run and an error on the play allowed another run to come in, tying up the ballgame. After a bunt single from Brannan, Valenzuela singled up the middle to give Fullerton the lead. Just for some extra insurance, Vandiver would come through a two-out single into left making it a 4-2 game.
That was all the scoring in game one as both pitchers settled in and shut everything down. Frost actually faced just one over the minimum in the final three innings of play giving up a pair of hits, but the defense was locked in behind her.
The victory was the fourth series opener victory for the Titans in five conference matchups thus far, but there was still another game to be played.
Trish Parks got the ball in game two and had arguably the best start in her Fullerton career. Throwing all seven innings, the junior allowed two runs (one earned) on just three hits and three walks. She also struck out a career-best 10 batters in the contest becoming the first Titan with double-digit strikeouts since April 1 of last season. The victory moved her to 7-2 on the year and she remained perfect in conference play now sporting a 6-0 record.
Everyone seemed to chip in a little bit offensively in game two, but Brooke Clemetson and Ari Williams led the way each recording multi-hit games. Clemetson went 2-4 with an RBI while Williams went 2-3 with a run scored. Deshea Hill went 1-3 with an RBI double, Bryanna Ybarra went 1-3 extending her hit streak to six games, Zoe Richard and Julia Valenzuela each had 1-2 performances, and Irie Siofele rounded out the offense recording a hit in her pinch hit appearance.
The scoring started early in this one as the first batter of the game for Davis went opposite field for a leadoff home run. The Aggies would plate another run after an error on Brannan and an RBI double from Yanez.
Fullerton would respond with one of their own in the bottom half as Williams would single and come in to score on Hill's RBI double that was less than a foot shy from clearing the fence.
That was all the offense up until the bottom of the sixth as both pitchers were cruising. The Titans were scattering hits against Kibby, but could never come up with the big hit. On the other side, Parks was dealing.
The right-hander actually allowed two hits and the first and then none until the top of the seventh retiring 17 of the 19 batters she faced in between hits.
The bottom of the sixth got started after a Richard single followed by Siofele's single. With two on, Valenzuela drew a walk bringing Clemetson to the plate. Grounding it up the middle, the Aggie second baseman made a nice stop but could not record an out tying the game up. Vandiver followed it up with a ground ball to short and a wild throw would allow the lead run to come in to score and give the Titans the win.
For Fullerton, it's their fifth straight series win as they continued their dominance in Big West play. They'll look for another series sweep in the finale Sunday at noon.
Photo: Nick Allen, SportsLingo.com
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