FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton (18-10) will host Dartmouth on Wednesday night at Anderson Family Field and then head to Loyola Marymount for a doubleheader Thursday and a single game on Friday.
GAME SCHEDULE
Cal State Fullerton vs. Dartmouth – Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.
Cal State Fullerton at LMU (DH) – Thursday at 12:00 p.m. & 2:30 p.m.
Cal State Fullerton at LMU – Friday at 2:00 p.m.
NEWS AND NOTES
The Titans are coming off a 3-1 weekend hosting the Easton Invitational with wins over Boston U, DePaul, and College of Charleston while falling to Harvard. It was the final weekend of tournament play for Fullerton as they will have a pair of midweek games and a three-game series before starting conference play next weekend.
The NCAA released their first official RPI rankings on Monday and Cal State Fullerton came in at number 50 overall which is the highest among all the Big West schools, 34 spots ahead of Long Beach State who ranks second among the conference teams.
It is always a good sign when the offense is scoring early, but for the Titans it has been perfect thus far. When Fullerton puts a run on the board first, they are a perfect 12-0 this season.
The Fullerton defense was stellar yet again last week committing just two errors in 35 innings of softball. They currently sit at a .978 fielding percentage which is tops in the Big West and ninth in the country.
The pitching staff has been a huge reason for the Titans' success this season. Through six weeks, they rank second in the Big West in ERA (2.68) and opposing batting average (.230) despite having the most innings pitched (185.2). They also rank third with 148 total strikeouts and second with 46 strikeouts looking.
Freshman Alexa Neil had another fantastic weekend hitting .462 over the course of the Easton Invitational. She boasted two multi-hit games going 2-for-3 against Boston and 3-for-3 against DePaul. Against the Terriers, she scored two of the three Titan runs and against the Blue Demons, drove in the game-tying and game-winning RBIs. The Titan second baseman was awarded her second Big West Freshman of the Week for her performance.
Ari Williams has been the catalyst of the Titan offense so far this season. The senior currently ranks Top 10 in the Big West in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, hits, RBI, triples, home runs, total bases, and stolen bases.
Freshman Daisy Munoz continues to produce at the plate since joining the starting lineup. Since March began, she has recorded at least one hit in nine of 12 games and is currently on a six-game hitting streak. She ranks second on the team in slugging percentage and home runs, third in batting average, and fourth in on-base percentage.
Freshman Dani Martinez has been huge for the Titans in the circle this season and was stellar once again over the weekend. In three appearances, she went 2-0 with an ERA just over 1.00 in 13.2 innings pitched. For the season, she ranks second in the conference in opponent batting average (.197), fourth in strikeouts (68), fifth in ERA (2.31), and eighth in innings (66.2).
Dartmouth enters the week with a 2-13 record hitting .246 as a team with a 5.71 team ERA in the circle. Morgan Martinelli leads the offense with a .333 average with 15 hits in 45 at-bats. Madie Augusto leads the pitching staff with a 3.02 ERA in 46.1 innings of work. This will be the first time the Titans and Big Green will face each other in program history.
Loyola Marymount enters the week with a 17-11 record hitting a .252 team batting average, but their pitching has been the storyline sporting a 2.24 team ERA. Andrea Gonzalez leads the Lion offense with a .313 average while Hannah Bandimere's 1.65 ERA leads the pitching staff. This will be the 24th meeting between the Lions and Titans with Fullerton leading the all-time series 18-5 and the teams split four games last year going 2-2 in 2018.
SUPPORT THE TITANS!
Fans can purchase tickets for various Cal State Fullerton athletic events by visiting FullertonTitans.com/Tickets. The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 657-278-2783 or by email at athletictixs@fullerton.edu. The Ticket Office is located at the Titan House off of Gymnasium Drive at the eastern end of the Intramural Fields and is open from 10 am – 4 pm PT, Monday – Friday.
FOLLOW THE TITANS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans), and Instagram (FullertonTitans). In addition, the softball team has established its own Twitter (@Fullerton_SB) and Instagram accounts (@Fullerton_SB).