May 6, 2012
FULLERTON, CA - Long Beach State's Megan Denio finished 3-for-3 with two RBI and five other hitters had multiple hits on the day to back a five-inning, one-hit shutout by Taylor Petty as the 49ers defeated Cal State Fullerton, 11-0, on Sunday afternoon at Anderson Family Field.
The Titans dropped to 19-29 overall and 7-11 in the Big West Conference with the loss while Long Beach State improved to 26-22 overall and 14-4 in league play, posting its first sweep of Cal State Fullerton since 2005.
Petty (8-1) allowed only four baserunners on the day, carrying a no-hit bid into the fourth until senior Adriana Martinez beat out a slow chopper to the left side for an infield single. Petty, who allowed just one runner to reach third base, walked two and hit a batter while striking out five in the complete-game win.
Freshman Desiree Ybarra (13-15) suffered the loss, allowing seven runs on 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings of work before giving way to Vanessa Garcia in the fourth. Garcia, was touched for four unearned runs on four hits in 1 2/3 innings as the Fullerton defense made four errors on the afternoon.
Bri Stephan's two-out infield single scored pinch-runner Emily Gregorio in the second to start the scoring and the 49ers took a 2-0 lead on Denio's infield single when Stephan scored from second base when the throw to try and get Denio went wide.
Long Beach State then broke things open with a nine-run fourth inning, sending 14 batters to the plate. Ashlynn Booker drove in three in the inning with a two-run home run (her sixth) and a bases-loaded walk while Hannah De Gaetano, Karli Sandoval, Leilani Tupua-Tautalatasi, and Denio all drove home runs in the frame to put the game out of reach.
Cal State Fullerton closes out the regular season next weekend, hosting a three-game series against UC Davis. The two teams open with a doubleheader on Friday evening (May 11) at 4 p.m. before closing with a single game on Saturday (May 12) at 12 p.m.