FULLERTON, Calif. – Freshman right-handed pitcher Sydney Golden was masterful in relief as she pitched 4.2 innings of no-hit softball to secure her seventh win of the of the year as she led Cal State Fullerton to a 2-0 victory over Northwestern on Saturday evening on day three of the Judi Garman Classic.
Cal State Fullerton (12-7) recorded its fourth shutout victory of the season after plating a pair of runs in the bottom of the third and relying heavily on pitching as well as a stout defense to hold Northwestern (7-11) off the board.
Senior right-handed pitcher Desiree Ybarra got the start for the Titans and pitched 2.0 innings of work. She allowed the only NU hit of the game – a single up the middle by Andrea Filler in the first inning – but exited the game after allowing four walks.
Jasmine Antunez came on in relief in the top of the third, but was pulled after walking the first batter she faced and getting a full count on the next batter. Golden (7-1) came in with the bases loaded and just one out and threw a strike to fan Antunez's batter for her first strikeout of the game. She followed that with another punch out to end the threat as the Wildcats left bases loaded.
In the bottom of the third, Missy Taukeiaho sent a one-out single off the leftfield fence to reach base before stealing second. Alexis Gonzalez drew a base on balls and the pair moved to second and third on a passed ball. A subsequent passed ball scored Taukeiaho for the first run of the game as the Titans went up 1-0.
After moving to third on the passed ball that scored Taukeiaho, Gonzalez's pinch runner Arianna Williams plated the second run of the game on a sacrifice fly to shallow left field.
Golden took the circle with a 2-0 advantage and never allowed a hit. She struck out the first three batters she faced before issuing a walk and allowing a runner to reach base after a catcher's interference call, but was perfect for the next 3.1 innings.
The Riverside, Calif., native retired 10 batters in a row, five of which were strikeouts. Between the fifth and seventh innings, she struck out five of the six batters she faced and during her outing never allowed a ball to reach the outfield.
She finished the game pitching 4.2 innings of work with one walk and a career-high eight strikeouts while lowering her ERA to 2.24.
Her counterpart, Kristen Wood (1-3) took the loss after pitching 4.0 innings and allowing two runs, none of which were earned, on six hits, while walking two and fanning two. She was relieved by Nicole Bond who faced three batters and recorded one out, before making way for Amy Letourneau who faced five batters over 1.2 innings and collected one strikeout.
The Titans managed six hits in the game and Courtney Rodriguez registered two of them as she went 2-for-3. Samantha Vandiver, Taukeiaho, Delynn Rippy and Raeanne Martinez recorded the remainder of the hits for Fullerton.
Cal State Fullerton closes out the Judi Garman Classic Sunday, March 6 against North Carolina at 2 p.m. Live stats, audio and video will be available on FullertonTitans.com.