CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - The Cal State Fullerton Titans women's softball dropped their first game of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic 6-5 in extra innings against San Diego State on Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field at the Big League Dreams in Cathedral City.
It was a rematch of he Titans final game of the 2022 season as the Aztecs ended the Titans season at the Tempe Regional on May 21st, 2022.
The Titans led early and were cruising through the early innings of the game, however, the Titans defense committed some uncharacteristic errors that extended innings which led to SDSU slowly chipping away at the lead and eventually letting the game get away from the Titans.
The Titans pitching staff continued to do what they've been doing all eason and only allowed one earned run of the six runs scored. And that lone run came on a wild pitch. Haley Rainey got the start and re-entered the game late and tossed 5.1 innings and allowed three runs (all unearned) on two hits, three walks, and struck out three. Myka Sutherlin allowed three runs (one earned) in 1.1 innings of work on three hits, one walk, and one strikeout. Raci Miranda tossed 0.2 innings and allowed one hit, one walk, and struck out one.
The Titans hit the Aztec starter Dee Dee Hernandez for four runs on six hits and knocked her out after three innings. Allie Light, the pitcher who shut the Titans down in relief last season, also pitched in relief and limited the Titans to just one hit and one run.
Hannah Becerra led the offense with one hit and 2 RBIs off her third home run of the season. Jessi Alcala had two hits and went 2-for-4 from the dish with 2 runs and 1 RBI and her second home run of the season.
The Titans struck first in the second inning. Jessi Alcala singled through the left side, advanced to second on a sac, and scored after a fielding error by the second baseman.
The Titans added three in the third inning to go up 4-0. Alexa Neil had a base hit up the middle and then Hannah Becerra deposited one over the left field fence.
T3 | Becerra Blast!! �� pic.twitter.com/yHz91Zs4Qb
— Titans Softball (@Fullerton_SB) February 24, 2023
Peyton Toto and Daisy Munoz had back-to-back singles and advanced to scoring position with two outs. Anaiya Mitchell pinch ran for Munoz and eventually scored on a passed ball.
The Aztecs scored two in the bottom of the fourth off two errors in the inning. Rainey should've been out of the inning unscathed but there were two errors in the inning that extended the inning which San DIego State capitalized on. The Aztecs tied the game at 4-4 in the fifth inning. With two outs in the inning, the Aztecs had a runner reach on the third Titan's error of the game. The next batter hit a tying home run over the LF fence to make it 4-4.
In the sixth inning, Jessi Alcala gave the Titans the lead back to make it a 5-4 game after she hit her second home run of the season over the RF fence.
T6 | @jjeess13 SENDS ONE OVER THE RF FENCE!! The Titans regain the lead 5-4#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/dts9PNZFix
— Titans Softball (@Fullerton_SB) February 24, 2023
However, the Aztecs tied the game in the bottom half of the inning and scored on a wild pitch in the inning.
In the bottom of the seven, the Titans did an admirable job to keep the Aztecs from scoring. Their first two batters of the inning reached bases and were both in scoring position with one out. However, Haley Raney induced a groundout and got a big strikeout with bases loaded to send the game into extras.
END 7 | SDSU gets the first two runners on in the inning. But @HaleyRainey2 battles out of a bases loaded jam to leave the inning unscathed! We're tied 5-5 heading into extras
— Titans Softball (@Fullerton_SB) February 24, 2023
#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/91uINWLSX6
In the eighth inning, with the international tiebreaker rule in effect. The Titans stranded their runner at third base in the inning. The Aztecs were able to score their runner on a sac fly to right field. Antuanett Dean made an accurate throw to the plate but Alcala wasn't able to catch it and apply the tag and the Aztecs walked off with the game.
The Titans will take on two ranked opponents tomorrow against #24 Oregon and #2 Oklahoma. First pitch is scheduled for 10:00 AM against Oregon.
WATCH THE TITANS ON ESPN+
Titans fans can now watch home contests exclusively on ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a top-tier production studio to give the viewers an ESPN quality production for Titans Athletics. Additionally, all schools in the Big West Conference are committed to producing ESPN quality streams which will allow fans to watch the Titans on ESPN+ for all road conference games.
FOLLOW THE TITANS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (FullertonTitans). In addition, the softball team has established its own Twitter (fullerton_sb) and Instagram accounts (fullerton_sb)