April 20, 2008
STOCKTON, CA - Cal State Fullerton senior Katie Gollhardt erased a two-run deficit with a three-run home run in the seventh and the Titans held off a late Pacific rally to defeat the host Tigers, 4-3, and complete a three-game sweep of their Big West Conference series on Sunday afternoon in Stockton, Calif.
The win is the fourth in a row for Fullerton, which evens its record at 22-22-1 overall and 6-6 in Big West play to stand in a three-way tie for third with three weeks to play.
Pacific fell to 22-28 overall, 4-8 in league play with the loss.
After having a rally snuffed out in the sixth and trailing 2-0 entering the final inning, Fullerton put together another rally in the seventh, putting the first two batters on after a single and walk.
Freshman Torrie Anderson then sacrificed both runners into scoring position with a bunt to bring up Gollhardt, who sent the second pitch she saw from Chelsea Engle (14-15) over the wall in left centerfield to erase the deficit and give the Titans the 3-2 lead.
Engle then got a fly ball for out number two, but was lifted in favor of Alyce Jorgensen after walking a pair to continue the rally. Freshman Ari Cervantes then singled through the left side to load the bases and bring up K.C. Craddick.
The Titans pushed across an insurance run during Craddick's at bat that proved to be the difference as Kiki Munoz sprinted home on a wild pitch, sliding under the tag of Jorgensen for the 4-2 lead.
Pacific, which scored its first runs of the weekend in the third on Jorgensen's fifth home run of the year - a two-run shot - in the third, then put together a rally of its own to close the gap in the bottom of the seventh.
Casey Goldsand led off by reaching on an error and moved to second on a wild pitch. After a pop out, Jorgensen drove home her third run of the game with an RBI single down the right field line to make it 4-3.
However, that would be as close as the Tigers would come as Christine Hiner (11-11) induced a pair of ground balls to end the game and secure the sweep for the Titans.
Gollhardt finished 2-for-4 and was one of three Fullerton batters with multiple hits on the day, joining Munoz and Cervantes.
Hiner allowed an unearned run on three hits in 4 2/3 innings of relief, walking one and striking out four. Jessica Doucette was stuck with the no decision, allowing two runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings.
Engle suffered the loss, charged with all four runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings, walking three and striking out two. Jorgensen, in addition to finishing 2-for-3, allowed a hit and struck out one in one-third inning of work in the circle.
Cal State Fullerton returns to the field next weekend, hitting the road for the final time in 2008. The Titans head to Cal State Northridge for a three-game series on April 26-27 at Matador Diamond. Games are scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. on both days.