FULLERTON, Calif.— Cal State Fullerton continued their prowess on the diamond by sweeping Santa Clara in a run-rule game 8-0, while finishing off the Panthers of Pittsburgh 7-4 at Anderson Family Field. Both freshman Christina Washington (1-0) and junior Desiree Ybarra (1-0) picked up their first wins of the season in the circle, as the Titans continued to build off of their stunning victory over No. 2 Oklahoma yesterday afternoon.
Following today's sweep of Santa Clara and Pittsburgh, Fullerton moves to 4-0 on the season as SCU moves to (0-4) and the Panthers of Pittsburgh fall to (3-1). The Titans will face George Washington (11:30 a.m.) in the final game of the Easton Tournament on Sunday (Feb. 8) at Anderson Family Field.
GAME 1: Cal State Fullerton 8 Santa Clara 0
Freshman Christina Washington (1-0) made her Titan debut as a starting pitcher in game one Saturday morning at Anderson Family Field. Coming into day two of the tournament, the Titans were using a heavy dose of sophomore Jasmine Antunez to propel to a 2-0 record to start the season including a 3-1 stunner of No. 2 Oklahoma. Washington came up big for the Titans posting four innings of work with three strikeouts while yielding zero runs against the Broncos of Santa Clara.
Senior Gabby Aragon came through with an RBI-single in the first inning after Missy Taukeiaho led off the game with a single, and was sacrificed over by catcher Ariel Tsuchiyama. Santa Clara's Brianna Rios (0-1) was able to sustain the damage by forcing a ground double play on Desiree Ybarra to end the first inning.
Rios was not so lucky going into the next inning as she surrendered back to back triples to Paige Kisling and Leesa Harris. The Titans scored three runs in the inning to lead 4-0 after the second inning. The Titans never looked back from there.
Gabby Aragon, Missy Taukeiaho and Ariel Tsuchiyama pioneered the Titan offense each driving in two runs at the plate as they pulled away from the Broncos. Leesa Harris made the most of her plate appearances by going 2-for-2 from the plate to go along with two runs and one RBI.
GAME 2: Cal State Fullerton 7 Pittsburgh 4
The Easton Tournament pitted two 3-0 teams to face each other in game three on Saturday. Ace Jasmine Antunez started the game for the Titans, but ran into trouble early in the game. Antunez yielded three earned runs on three hits overall. In the first inning, Pittsburgh's Maggie Sevilla doubled in two runs to right center to open the scoring. Sevilla was followed by Ashlee Sills double that knocked in two more for the Panthers. The 4-0 hole to start the game was the largest deficit the Titans have faced all of the tournament.
The Titans rallied in the bottom half of first inning as Missy Taukeiaho launched her second homerun of the season in as many days over the pole down the left field line. Desiree Ybarra followed up with an RBI double down the left field line to cut the lead in half 4-2.
Desiree Ybarra (1-0) came into pitch the rest of the way for the Titans, pitching a solid six innings of work, surrendering only two runs and striking out two batters along the way. Ybarra was able to strand two runners on base over the six innings, stopping any form of comeback the Panthers were trying to produce.
The final dagger came in the sixth inning as Leesa Harris drew a walk to load the bases for slugger Missy Taukeiaho. Pittsburgh's Savannah King (2-1) pitched carefully to Taukeiaho which led to a bases-loaded walk to score a run for the Titans. Catcher Ariel Tsuchiyama took advantage of the walk in front of her by hitting a two-run single down the right field line to hold the momentum for the Titans.
CSF had rallied from a 4-0 deficit to lead holding the lead over the Panthers 7-4 heading into the final frame. Desiree Ybarra finished the game off with an uneventful final inning as she forced two popups and a fly out by the Panthers Carissa Throckmorton to record the final out.
Notes: Three different starting pitchers have picked up their first wins of the season, Jasmine Antunez (2-0), Christina Washington (1-0) and Desiree Ybarra (1-0). Missy Taukeiaho has made her impact in the Easton Tournament going 7-for-10 with two homeruns and eight RBI to lead the Titans offense. Leesa Harris has used her speed to the fullest by scoring a team-high six runs for Cal State Fullerton.
