April 21, 2010

FULLERTON, CA -

Complete Release in PDF Format

FIRST PITCH: Reeling from its fourth consecutive loss and a series sweep at the hands of Cal Poly on the road last weekend, the Cal State Fullerton softball team (9-32, 4-5) looks to rebound this weekend as the Titans host UC Davis in a three-game series at Anderson Family Field. The series begins with a special doubleheader (see below) on Saturday (April 24) at 12 p.m. before concluding with a single game on Sunday (April 25) at Noon.

TITANS HOST SECOND-ANNUAL "POWER IN PINK" DAY: The Cal State Fullerton softball team will host its second-annual "Power in Pink" Day to support breast cancer research and awareness on Saturday, April 24, during its Big West Conference doubleheader with UC Davis at Anderson Family Field.

A silent auction of the team's game-worn pink jerseys will be held during the first game of the doubleheader and donations to benefit the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade will be accepted throughout the day.

Fans attending the games are encouraged to join the Titans and Aggies in wearing pink to show their support of the cause while the weekend's first pitch will be thrown out by guest of honor, Kimi Kobashi.

Last season's inaugural event featuring the Titans and Cal Poly, raised more than \$1,300 for the Susan B. Komen For the Cure Foundation.

Tickets are \$7 for adults and \$5 for youths and may be purchased at the gate on game day, online at FullertonTitans.com, or by phone by calling the athletic ticket office at 657-278-CSUF.

I NEED STATS, STAT!: Live in-game statistics via CBS College Sports' Gametracker will be available for all three contests. Fans can access the links from the softball schedule page at FullertonTitans.com.

"CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?": Live streaming audio for all three of this weekend's contests from Anderson Family Field will be broadcast live thanks to Stretch Internet (www.stretchinternet.com). Veteran Cal State Fullerton play-by-play man, Mike Martinez, will have the call from Fullerton. Links to the broadcasts can be accessed by clicking on the headphones icon in the upper right-hand corner of FullertonTitans.com.

I SEE YOU!: For the fifth consecutive season, fans can watch the Titans live over the Internet thanks to a partnership between the Big West Conference and CBS College Sports. Live video streaming of selected Cal State Fullerton softball home and road contests will be available on a subscription basis and can be accessed by visiting www.BigWest.org/TV. A monthly subscription of \$9.95 or an annual subscription of \$79.95 delivers exclusive coverage of every home and conference women's volleyball and men's and women's basketball contests along with selected men's and women's soccer, baseball, softball, and Big West Conference championships.

IN THE POLLS: Neither Cal State Fullerton nor UC Davis are ranked in either the USA Today/NFCA or the ESPN.com/USA Softball coaches polls entering this weekend's games.

ABOUT THE AGGIES: UC Davis enters the weekend with a 16-24 overall record and a 5-3 mark in Big West Conference play - a game and a half ahead of the Titans in third place... the Aggies had a doubleheader against Nevada postponed due to weather on Tuesday (April 20)... Kylie Fan leads the team with a .300 while playing in 31 of the team's 40 games... Sarah Axelson leads the team with 15 RBI and three home runs to go along with her .243 average... Alex Holmes is a dual threat at the plate and in the circle, hitting .289 with 12 runs scored and 12 RBI while also posting a 10-8 mark with a 3.06 ERA and a team-high 107 strikeouts... Dana Waldusky (6-12, 3.67 ERA) has also seen significant time in the circle.

SERIES RECORDS: Cal State Fullerton leads the all-time series with UC Davis, 12-3, but the Titans are just 3-3 against the Aggies on their home field while posting a 9-0 mark in Davis... Fullerton has won the last four straight in the series, including a series sweep of UC Davis last season on the road by the scores of 10-3, 5-4, and 7-2... the Aggies took two of three from the Titans in 2008 in their last trip to Fullerton, winning games one and two by the scores of 5-2 and 5-4 (9) before the Titans took game three with an 8-4 win.

WELCOME TO THE LINEUP, LEMOND: Cal State Fullerton sophomore Morgan LeMond made her first appearance in the starting lineup since mid-March last weekend against Cal Poly and immediately provided an offensive boost to the Titans. LeMond started all three games behind the plate and hit .455 (5-for-11) for the weekend with a run scored, including tying a career high with three hits in the series opener - her first hit since going 1-for-3 against Fresno State on March 18 (also her last start). LeMond then wrapped up the series at Cal Poly with a 2-for-4 day in the finale on Sunday, helping raise her average to .220 on the season - 66 points better than what she entered the weekend hitting.

CRADDICK ENJOYS BIG WEST PITCHING: Junior K.C. Craddick continued her hot hitting in conference play last weekend in San Luis Obispo, going 4-for-10 (.400) against the Mustangs, including a three-hit performance in the series finale. Craddick, who is hitting .360 against Big West opponents, is batting 155 points better in conference action than her overall average of .205 on the year and has a hit in five of the team's nine conference contests thus far. It continues a trend of Big West success for the Yorba Linda native as Craddick also excelled against conference pitching as a freshman (.339) in 2008 and a sophomore (.321) in 2009.

BATS STILL AMONG THE BEST: Despite the struggles last weekend against Cal Poly, Fullerton sports a league-best .292 average in conference play - well above its overall average of .224 - while standing second in slugging percentage (.444), third in on base percentage (.357), second in runs scored (43), first in hits (71), second in RBI (38) and tied for the league lead in home runs (8). In fact, almost one-third of the team's 230 hits have come since the start of Big West play.

COMPARING BRUISES: This weekend's series against UC Davis will feature two of the most oft-hit players in the Big West Conference this season as the Aggies' Jessica Gonzalez and the Titans' Nicole Johnson step into the box. Gonzalez leads the Big West with 16 HBP's this season while Johnson is second with 11 bruises thus far. The duo may want to ask that extra ice be brought to the field as Fullerton's pitching staff leads the league with 41 hit batters while UC Davis is fourth with 26 batters hit this season.

Johnson's total this season has her tied for 10th with current volunteer coach Courtney Martinez on the single-season list while her 20 career HBP's have her in eighth place all-time - seven shy of moving into a four-way tie for fifth with Lauren Lupinetti (2007-09), Katie Gollhardt (2005-08), and Candice Baker (2004-07).

BALDWIN ON A BIT OF A TEAR: Senior Kadie Baldwin has been one of the team's most consistent hitters since April 1... and we're not foolin'. Since the start of Big West play, Baldwin has hits in seven of the Titans' nine conference contests, batting .310 (9-for-29) with a double and five RBI, co-leading the team in hits in that span and standing fourth on the team in RBI. Thanks to those performances, Baldwin has raised her average 26 points to a season-high .235 on the year and now has six multi-hit games in 2010 - good for third on the team.

WHERE ARE WE RUNNIN': Apparently it's to home plate. Since the start of Big West play sophomore Nicole Johnson and junior Torrie Anderson have done that more than most players in the conference as Johnson's nine runs scored in league games have her atop the Big West while Anderson's eight runs scored rank her in a three-way tie for second. Overall, Anderson ranks seventh in the conference with 22 runs scored.

TITANS REQUIRE NEAR PERFECTION: With only four regular season Big West Conference series remaining in 2010, Cal State Fullerton will need to be nearly perfect if it is to avoid finishing with the fewest wins in school history. The Titans will need to finish at least 9-3 in their final 12 games to match the 2004 squad that finished 18-34 - the first losing season in school history.

RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME: Junior Torrie Anderson has been just that for the Titans this season, leading the team in both game-winning RBI (3) and game-winning runs (3). Anderson has driven home the game-winner in victories over Southern Utah, Baylor, and UC Santa Barbra while scoring the go-ahead runs against the Thunderbirds, Gauchos, and UC Riverside.

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE: Most of the damage done against the Titans this season has come in the middle three innings as Fullerton has been outscored by a combined total of 122-52 in the third-fifth innings. The worst inning offensively for the Titans this season has been the fifth, outscored by a 49-12 count, while opponents have scored the most runs against them in the fourth inning, plating 50 runs to just 22 for Fullerton.

"BOOM" GOES THE DYNAMITE: The Titans' bats were shutout in the home run category last weekend, but that hasn't knocked them from their perch atop the league standings in that category as Fullerton continues to lead the league with 26 long balls on the season - besting second-place Cal State Northridge by just two. Sophomore Trina Harrison leads the league with nine home runs on the season with teammate Torrie Anderson standing third with seven home runs in 2010.

GAME-WINNING WALK-OFF PUTS TORRIE IN THE BOOKS: Anderson's walk-off two-run home run to clinch the Titans' game-three victory over UC Santa Barbara on April 3 not only won the game for the home team, but put the hard-hitting outfielder among the top power hitters in the history of the program. Anderson's seventh home run of the season gave her 21 for her career - tying her with All-American Jodie Cox (2000-03) for 10th on the school's all-time list. Next up: Katie Gollhardt (2005-08), who finished her stellar four-year career with 23 home runs, good for ninth place.

WHILE WE'RE AT IT...: Trina Harrison's nine home runs this season have her on the verge of breaking into the school's single-season top 10 list with 12 regular season games remaining, trailing three players (including teammate Torrie Anderson) with 11 home runs in a season for ninth place. Anderson, who hit 11 home runs last season as a sophomore, joins former Titans Jessica Doucette (11 in 2007) and Chris Zboril (11 in 1996) in that spot.

SECOND-HALF HITTER: Half of Torrie Anderson's team-high 33 hits have all come in the last 17 games as the junior is batting .353 (18-for-51) in that span with 12 runs scored, 11 walks, and six RBI. Prior to that, Anderson was hitting just .217 (15-for-69) in her first 24 games of the year, despite scoring 10 runs, slugging six home runs, and driving in 15 more. Thanks to her second-half splurge, the Valencia native has raised her average 58 points to .275 overall.

HARRISON GOES THE EXTRA MILE: Or 60 feet as it were. Of sophomore Trina Harrison's 23 hits this season, 13 have gone for extra bases as she has slugged a league-leading nine home runs and four doubles, helping her to a .557 slugging percentage which ranks fifth in the league. She also stands tied for fourth in RBI (25) and eighth in total bases (54).

LUCKY SEVEN: Sophomore Trina Harrison became the first Titan to drive in seven runs in a single game in almost eight years, matching the performance of former Cal State Fullerton All-American Jodie Cox, who finished 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles, a triple, and seven RBI in a victory at Utah State on March 30, 2002. Harrison becomes the fifth Titan since 1997 to drive in as many runs, joining Cox, Yasmin Mossadeghi (vs. UNLV on 3.29.00) and Dara Marzolo (vs. Georgia State on 3.19.97) with seven RBI, while Gina Oaks drove in eight runs against Kansas on a pair of grand slams on Feb. 2, 2001. Oaks' eight RBI are the most in program history dating back to 1987 when complete season box scores are available.

ISN'T THAT "GRAND"?: Sophomores Nicole Johnson and Trina Harrison each slugged grand slams as part of the Titans' 12-3 victory in game two against UC Santa Barbara on April 2, the first time that has happened since current Titan Torrie Anderson and former All-American Kiki Munoz accomplished the feat as part of an 11-0 win over UC Riverside on April 5, 2008. The grand slams were the second and third hit by a Titan this season after Anderson slugged one at UCLA back on Feb. 24 as Fullerton tried to rally in the seventh. For Johnson, it was her second career grand slam after hitting one against Cal Poly on March 29 last season, and the first in Harrison's brief career while Anderson leads all active Titans with three in her two-plus seasons at Fullerton.