PALM SPRINGS, Calif.— The Cal State Fullerton softball team capitalized on six errors to rally against Boise State in the final game of the tournament for the Titans, 10-3, while being stifled to one-hit against No. 24 Notre Dame in a shutout, 8-0, at the Mary Nutter Classic on Saturday evening.
With the day two split and an overall tournament split (2-2), the Titans move to 11-5 on the season, while Boise State falls to 6-8 and Notre Dame improves to 10-2 on the season.
Game Two: Cal State Fullerton 10, Boise State 3
In the night cap game of the Mary Nutter Classic, the Broncos from Boise State were adamant in getting off to a good start.
Tara Glover lead the game off with an infield single followed by a swipe of second base just minutes later. Bronco MacKenzie Whyte chipped in an RBI-single, scoring Glover. Devon Bridges contributed with the third single of the inning, placing Boise State ahead early, 2-0, after the first inning.
Boise State tacked on another run in the second on three hits, but the game took a drastic turn from here.
The Titans led off the third inning with back-to-back infield singles by Paige Kisling and Delynn Rippy. Senior Leesa Harris immediately challenged the Boise State defense with a slow roller to the third baseman and eventually forcing a fielding error by first baseman Ashley Palmer. Leadoff batter Missy Taukeiaho stepped into the plate delivering an RBI-single which again was followed by a throwing error yielded by the Broncos defense. Taukeiaho would carousel her way to a full three-base error as she found a way to come around the diamond and score. Four more errors by the Boise State defense lead to two more runs, capitalizing on six total errors in the inning now capturing the lead, 6-3.
The six-run third inning marked the largest number the Titan offense has been able to mark on the board in one inning all season. Fullerton wasn't planning on looking back either.
CSF tallied insurance runs in the sixth inning off the bat of Taukeiaho once again, as she had one runner on and launched a 3-0 fastball over the left field wall scoring Harris who had singled earlier in the inning.
Game One: No. 24 Notre Dame 8, Cal State Fullerton 0
Starter Jasmine Antunez (5-2) ran into trouble early against the Irish, as she attempted to settle into the strike zone. Notre Dame would break through after junior Katey Haus singled into center field bringing home left fielder Karley Wester from second base.
Sophomore Micaela Arizmendi later followed with a two-run double off the right field fence scoring Notre Dame's Megan Sorlie who had reached on base after being hit by a pitch just minutes earlier.
The Irish tacked on two more runs in the second on three hits capped off by Wester's second hit of the contest, an RBI-single off of Antunez extending the Irish lead to 5-0.
The Titans remained without a hit on the board until shortstop Gabby Aragon roped a sharp single to left field off of Irish starter Laura Winter (6-1) in the bottom half of the fifth inning. Notching her sixth win on the season, Winter surrendered the lone hit to Aragon while pitching a complete game shutout along with seven strikeouts on the evening.
Fullerton was never able to get the ball rolling on offense as Winter retired the order consecutively in four out of the seven regulation innings.
In conclusion of Cal State Fullerton's competition in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, the Titans return to Anderson Family Field on Tuesday, Feb. 25 hosting No. 2 Tennessee starting at 6:00 p.m.