May 9, 2010
FULLERTON, CA - Three Long Beach State hitters finished with two hits on the afternoon and junior hurler Brooke Turner allowed just three hits on the afternoon as the visiting 49ers spoiled "Senior Day" for Cal State Fullerton with a 6-2 victory on Sunday afternoon at Anderson Family Field.
The Titans fell to 13-37 overall and 8-10 in Big West Conference play with the loss, finishing the year with just an 8-16 mark at home - only the third losing season at their home field since 1985. Long Beach State improved to 23-26 overall and 7-11 in league play heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
Freshman Aly Fascetti (0-5) suffered the loss, charged with two runs on three hits in just two innings of work. Junior Ari Cervantes pitched the final five innings in relief, allowing three earned on nine hits in that span.
Turner (11-10) did not allow a hit until freshman Ashley Carter's infield single in the third. She retired 12 of the final 13 hitters she faced, walking four and striking out two in the complete-game win.
Single runs in the first two innings got the 49ers out to the quick lead as Catrin DeBaun had an RBI ground out in the first and Casey Burba drove home a run with a single in the second.
Long Beach State then tacked on two more in the third against Cervantes with some help from the Fullerton defense as Ashley Weber led-off with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice before Brandy Reyes' pop-up on the infield fell between two fielders on a miscommunication, allowing Weber to score and make it 3-0. Liz Javier then laced a double down the right field line to drive home Reyes and give the 49ers a 4-0 advantage.
Fullerton finally broke through in its half of the third as Torrie Anderson led-off with a walk and moved to second on Carter's infield hit. After a sacrifice moved both into scoring position, sophomore Nicole Johnson followed with an bloop single to left center, scoring one run, and Carter would score a few pitches later on a wild pitch to cut the deficit in half.
However, that would be as close as the Titans would get as Fullerton could manage just three more baserunners over the final four-plus innings against Turner, who allowed just one hit in that stretch - a double by K.C. Craddick in the fourth.
The 49ers added run-scoring hits by DeBaun and Jodi Nakawatase in the sixth and seventh innings to cap the scoring.
Cal State Fullerton closes out the regular season next weekend with a three-game series at Cal State Northridge at Matador Diamond. The series begins on Friday (May 14) with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. before closing out the regular season with a single game on Sunday (May 15), also at 1 p.m.