FULLERTON, Calif. – Coming off a midweek loss to No. 1 UCLA and their fourth Big West series sweep against UC Davis, Cal State Fullerton hits the road for the final time as they take on the Mustangs of Cal Poly this weekend.
Cal Poly currently sits alone in third place in the Big West standings with a 7-8 mark after taking a game from Long Beach State last weekend. They are 23-21 overall on the year.
The offense has struggled most of the season only sporting a .245 team average and only three of their regulars are above the .300 mark. Leading those three is Stephanie Heyward, who is hitting .317 in 120 at-bats. Right behind her is Hailey Martin, who is hitting .312 and right behind her is Chelsea Convissar, who sports a .308 average. Convissar leads the team in hits, doubles, triples, home runs, and slugging percentage while Martin leads the team with 27 RBI on the year.
In the circle, it's all about Lindsey Chalmers for the Mustangs. She has 29 appearances on the year, 25 of them being starts, and holds an 18-8 record. In her 154.2 innings, she has an 89-50 strikeout-walk ratio and sports a 2.31 ERA which is seventh best in the Big West. Since conference play started though, she has been the hottest pitcher on any of the BWC teams. Her 1.36 ERA leads the way through 15 games and she has also thrown a no-hitter against Hawai'i as well as holding Long Beach to just four runs total in two starts last weekend.
The Titans offense has been playing well lately and leading that charge is Sammie Vandiver, Bryanna Ybarra, and Zoe Richard. Vandiver has five multi-hit contests in the last six games, including matching her career-high with three hits against UCLA. She is hitting .545 in that span and has her season average up to .331 which is the highest mark she's hit since her sophomore season. Richard is currently hitting .428 in the midst of an eight-game hitting streak and has raised her average over the .300 mark for the first time this season. The catalyst of the offense has been Ybarra since conference play started and that continues to be true. She ranks top five in virtually every offensive category in the 15 Big West games and has reached base in 10 consecutive games. She also has a seven-game hitting streak going and is hitting .500 in those seven games.
Fullerton's pitching staff continues to be led by Sophie Frost and Trish Parks. Frost is coming off three appearances in the last four games throwing 16.2 innings only allowing three earned runs and picking up a pair of wins in the process. She currently ranks sixth in the Big West with a 2.16 ERA for the season. Parks remained undefeated over the weekend getting the start in game two against UC Davis and struck out a career-best 10 in that game. She also started against UCLA throwing three quality innings only allowing one run while striking out five.
The Titans and Mustangs matchup for a Saturday double-header beginning at 1:00 p.m. The series finale will be on Sunday with a 1:00 p.m. start.
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