LONG BEACH, Calif. - The Cal State Fullerton Titans lost both games of the doubleheader to Long Beach State on Saturday afternoon and in the process lost the Big West Championship on the final game of the regular season.
The Titans needed only one win heading into the weekend but the Beach completed the series sweep after winning 3-2 last night, 5-0 in the first game on Saturday, and 1-0 in the final game of the series.
The Titans were outscored 9-to-2 for the weekend and outhit 17-to-9 for the series. The Titans stranded 16 base runners this weekend including 11 in the final two games.
The Titans will now wait to see if the NCAA Committee decides to award them with an at-large bid during Sunday's Selection Show beginning at 4:00 p.m.
Cal State Fullerton 0, Long Beach State 5
The Titans dropped the first game of Saturday's doubleheader 5-0 to the Beach.
The Beach outhit the Titans 7-to-3 for the game and were able to capitalize on their chances with runners on base .
Long Beach State scored three runs in the second inning off two hits, a hit by pitch, and an error that should've gotten the Titans out of the inning with only two runs crossing the plate.
They added another run in the third inning after some defensive miscues in the outfield that should've ended the inning but instead led to a run-scoring double. They also added one more run in the fifth inning after a two out infield base hit.
Sophia Fernandez shut the Titans down and tossed a complete game shutout on three hits, two walks, and three strikeouts. Haley Rainey suffered the loss after allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits and two walks.
Cal State Fullerton 0, Long Beach State 1
The Titans lost the final game of the series in a close pitching duel between Myka Sutherlin and Shannon Haddad.
Sutherlin was electric in the circle and allowed one run on three hits, one walk, and struck out five in six innings of work. Haddad just bested her after throwing a 3-hit complete game shutout with zero walks and one strikeout.
The Titans stranded six runners on base in the game and just couldn't find a way to push across a run against Haddad. They had a runner on base in all but the fourth inning and had a runner in scoring position in the first, fifth, and sixth inning. However the Titans failed to bring any of the runners home.
Long Beach found the breakthrough late in the bottom of the sixth inning. Sara Olson led the inning off with a double, advanced to third on a sac bunt, and came around to score on a sac fly to right field. The one run ended up being all the Beach needed to secure the win, the series sweep, and the Big West Championship.
The Titans will now hope that their strong RPI, strong strength of schedule, and big wins earlier in the season will be enough to convince the committee to grant them an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
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