LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton (34-23) plated two runs in the fifth inning to overcome the 1-0 deficit and defeat No. 22 Texas State (42-15) in the Los Angeles Regional opener.
Trish Parks got the start in the circle coming off her first career Big West Pitcher of the Week award and riding a 19-inning scoreless streak. The junior was phenomenal going the distance only allowing the one run on five hits while striking out five. It's her 11th win of the season and ninth complete game.
Brooke Clemetson was named the MVP of the game by ESPN leading the offense going 2-4 scoring the winning run and driving in the tying run. Julia Valenzuela got the fifth inning rally started with a double and finished 1-3 with a run scored. Sammie Vandiver (1-4), Ari Williams (1-3), Zoe Richard (1-3), and Irie Siofele (1-1) were the other Titans with knocks in the ballgame.
After a scoreless first inning, Texas State broke the shutout in the bottom of the second after a leadoff hit by pitch, sacrifice bunt, and an RBI single from Haleigh Davis. That lead would hold until the fifth as Randi Rupp was cruising through the Fullerton lineup.
Then came the fifth inning. Valenzuela led things off by splitting the right-center gap for a double. She would move up to third on Mikaela Francis' groundout and come in to score thanks to a bloop single off the bat of Clemetson.
Vandiver followed that up with an infield single and a wild pitch moved both runners up. Williams came up with a huge scoring opportunity and popped it straight up. Luckily, some miscommunication between the Bobcat battery mates resulted in the ball dropping in allowing Clemetson to score.
That was all the scoring needed as Parks found her groove and shutdown the Texas State offense the rest of the way.
Fullerton will play tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. against the winner between UCLA and Sacramento State. The game can be seen on ESPN3 once again.
Photo: Nick Allen, SportsLingo.com
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