FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton (31-23, 16-3 BWC) tried to come up with a late rally, but came up short against UC Riverside (33-20, 10-9 BWC) in the series opener on Friday night.
Sophie Frost got the start for the Titans and struggled out of the gate. She ended up going 6.1 innings allowing four runs, all earned, on six hits and four walks. Trish Parks ultimately had to come in and get the final two outs of the ballgame.
The offense struggled for the second straight game only coming up with three hits in this ballgame. Sammie Vandiver went 1-3 at the plate with a run scored. Bryanna Ybarra went 1-3 and Sam Kennedy went 1-2 recording her third double of the season. Zoe Richard's 11-game hit streak was snapped, but she did take sole possession of the team lead driving in her 30th run of the season.
UC Riverside got the scoring started right off the bat as a walk, a double, and a single from the first three hitters plated a pair of runs for the Highlanders. They would score again in the third after a leadoff triple followed by a 9-3 putout to plate the run.
Fullerton wouldn't get on the board until the sixth inning. After back-to-back walks opened up the frame, Ybarra would ground it to first and a pair of errors on by the UCR defense allowed Vandiver to score the first run of the game for the Titans. Richard would follow that up with a sac fly to center field cutting the lead to just one run.
Unfortunately, that would be all for the Titans. Riverside would get an insurance run in the top of the seventh, but would hold Fullerton in the bottom half handing the Titans their third conference loss of the season, 4-2.
The Titans will look to bounce back with a double-header tomorrow starting at 2:00 p.m. as the quest to clinch the Big West crown continues.
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