FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton (23-13, 3-0 BWC) will host CSUN (17-19, 1-2 BWC) for their second weekend of conference play. The series opener will be Friday night at 6:00 p.m. with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 2:00 p.m. to close out the weekend.
The Titans are coming off an opening series sweep of UC Santa Barbara to begin conference play 3-0. Fullerton outscored the Gauchos 10-3 in the weekend set with 1-0, 6-2, and 3-1 victories.
QUICK HITS
• With conference play starting last week, the Titans will look to defend their Big West crown once again as they look for their fourth straight championship.
• The Titans opened up conference play with a sweep of UC Santa Barbara. They are the only Big West team to open up Big West play 3-0 giving them sole possession of first place.
• With the second official NCAA RPI rankings coming out this week, Cal State Fullerton finds themselves as the top team in the conference coming in at #55 overall. The next closest is UC Davis at #64.
• The Titan pitching staff currently ranks second in the Big West with a 2.65 ERA and a .229 opponent batting average while leading the conference in 237.2 innings. They also rank third with 183 strikeouts.
• The Titan defense currently leads in the conference with a .978 fielding percentage overall, a mark that ranks 9th in the NCAA. In the first weekend of Big West play, they made just 1 error in 28 innings of play.
• Fullerton has been great at keeping the lead when they score first going a near perfect 16-1. Their only loss in this situation came in game one against LMU.
• Cal State Fullerton has not only dominated the conference with three straight titles, but they have won 19 of their last 22 conference series, sweeping 13 of them.
• Speaking of dominating the conference... looking at the all-time records, the Titans have a .560 winning percentage or higher against every current Big West team. The highest percentage is an .874 mark against UCSB while the lowest is .560 against Long Beach State.
For the second time this season, Cal State Fullerton swept the Big West weekly awards with Kelsie Whitmore claiming her first ever Field Player of the Week award, Sophie Frost taking home Pitcher of the Week, and Dani Martinez earned her second Freshman of the Week award.
ALL-TIME RECORD HOLDER
Senior Ari Williams made history last season becoming the all-time stolen base leader and becoming the only Titan to ever steal 20+ bases in three seasons. She will be adding to said record all season long and currently sits at 84 steals for her career. She currently ranks 16th among the active career leaders.
WHITMORE GOES OFF
Junior Kelsie Whitmore had a phenomenal week last week leading to her first ever Big West Player of the Week award. In four games, she hit safely in all 4 games going 6-for-11 (.545) on the week. She also scored a pair of runs while driving in two more helping the Titans to conference opening sweep of UCSB.
LIFE IN THE CIRCLE IS FROSTY
Junior Sophie Frost established herself as the ace of the pitching staff last season and has only improved this season. She currently leads the team with a 2.29 ERA in 97.2 innings of work. She is 1 of just 5 Big West pitchers that has yet to allow a run in conference play so far and is riding a 17-scoreless inning streak.
#TAYLORSTRONG
Sophomore Taylor Dockins is back on the field for her second season. After missing over a month of the 2018 campaign due to her battle against cancer, she returned in the Regional final striking out the PAC-12 Freshman of the Year. After being away from the game for several months throughout the offseason, she is back and ready for the 2019 season.
In her last seven appearances, she has thrown 23.2 innings allowing just 6 earned runs on 20 hits. That's good for a 1.77 ERA and a .227 opponent batting average. For the season, she has posted a 2.72 ERA in 36.0 innings.
A WALK IS AS GOOD AS A HIT
Sophomore Janelle Rodriguez has shown a ton of patience at the plate this year. She currently leads the team and is tied for the team lead with 6 hit by pitches. Her .404 on-base percentage ranks third on the team despite hitting just .217 at the plate.
FRONT RUNNER FOR FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR?
Freshman Alexa Neil is having a phenomenal rookie campaign for the Titans. She currently ranks sixth in average (.381), fifth in on-base percentage (.444), third in runs scored (30), third in hits (40), ninth in total bases (53), second in sac bunts (6), and third in stolen bases (10). All of those marks are tops among Big West freshmen.
DANI IS DOMINANT
Freshman Dani Martinez has been huge for the Titan pitching staff this season. She has posted a 2.46 ERA this season which ranks sixth in the Big West to go along with a .197 opponent average (second in the BWC), and has struck out 85 batters (third most in the BWC).
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).
