April 11, 2009
DAVIS, CA - Senior Courtney Martinez's RBI double in the sixth snapped a 2-2 tie and four different Titans finished with two hits on the day as visiting Cal State Fullerton completed a three-game sweep of UC Davis with a 7-2 victory over the Aggies on Saturday afternoon at La Rue Field.
It was the first sweep of a Big West Conference opponent this season for the Titans (19-17, 7-2) and the first since they took three from Pacific on the road on April 19-20, 2008. The Aggies fell to 20-19 overall and 4-5 in league play.
Junior Francesca Gonzales and freshman Nicole Johnson each slugged home runs on the day, the former a solo shot in the fifth that tied the game and the latter a three-run shot to key a four-run sixth that broke open a close contest.
Sophomore Ari Cervantes (13-9) won her fourth consecutive start, allowing two runs on eight hits and striking out a pair in the complete-game effort. She got help from her defense to strand nine UC Davis runners on the day - five of those in scoring position.
Alex Holmes (8-10) suffered the loss, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings of work. Nicole Kociemba, who struck out three of the five she faced on Saturday in relief, was touched for four runs on five hits in just 1 1/3 innings.
Gonzales got the Titans on the board quickly in the first, capitalizing on Torrie Anderson's lead-off double and driving her home with a single to left for the 1-0 lead. UC Davis answered with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning as a two-run single by Kelly Harman with two outs gave the Aggies the lead.
Holmes looked to be in control for UC Davis, stranding the bases loaded in the third and leaving two on in the fourth before Gonzales got to her in the fifth to tie the game, slamming her seventh home run of the year to left centerfield to tie the game.
Fullerton then put together a two-out rally to take the lead for good in the sixth. Sophomore K.C. Craddick reached on an error and pinch-runner Adriana Martinez moved to second two batters later on a ground out by Cervantes.
Kociemba then entered in relief to try and shut down the Titans like she did a day earlier, but after a walk to Anderson put runners on the corners, Courtney Martinez snapped the tie with her double down the left field line, scoring Adriana Martinez and giving Fullerton the 3-2 advantage. Johnson then followed with her second home run of the season, a three-run shot over the wall in centerfield to put Fullerton up, 6-2.
The Titans tacked on another run in the seventh as Anderson added an RBI single to score Lauren Lupinetti to cap the scoring.
Anderson, Gonzales, Lupinetti, and Craddick all finished with two hits on the day as Cal State Fullerton collected 12 hits as a team - the second-highest total for the Titans in a game this season and the third time in the last six contests that they have reached double figures.
Harman and Erin Emde each finished with two hits to lead the Aggies' offense.
Cal State Fullerton returns to the diamond with a three-game series at Anderson Family Field next weekend as the Titans welcome Pacific to southern California. The series opens on Saturday (Apr. 18) with a doubleheader at noon and concludes with a single game on Sunday (Apr. 19), also at 12 p.m.