FULLERTON, Calif. – Senior southpaw Desiree Ybarra tossed her second consecutive complete-game shutout with a career-high 11 strikeouts as she helped the Cal State Fullerton softball team defeat No. 23/25 Fresno State Tuesday night.
The Titans have now won four straight games and 11 of their last 12 to improve to 24-9 on the year. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, drop to 18-9-1.
Ybarra (7-4) got early run support from her offense thanks to a three-run homer from Alexis Gonzalez in the first. Gonzalez came to the plate with Samantha Vandiver and Missy Taukeiaho on base after the pair reached on a single and a walk, and belted her fourth home run of the year to leftfield giving the Titans an early 3-0 lead.
Following the homer in the first, Fresno State pulled starting pitcher Jill Compton (9-4) to make way for Kamalani Dung who went on to pitch 5.0 innings, while allowing two runs on six hits with three strikeouts and a pair of walks.
Ybarra was solid from the start as she took the circle and retired the first six batters she faced including striking out the side in the second.
She is currently riding a 15.1 scoreless inning streak and has not allowed an earned run in 36.0 innings of work dating back to March 6 when she allowed two runs against North Carolina.
Ybarra helped preserve that streak in the fourth as she covered the plate after a wild pitch and tagged Fresno State's Malia Rivers out at home to keep the Bulldogs off the board.
In the sixth inning, Cal State Fullerton added two more runs after Sydney Colenzo reached on a leadoff walk and Brooke Clemetson, who pinch ran for Colenzo, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before advancing to third on a wild pitch. A single to left by Delynn Rippy scored Clemetson to make it a 4-0 Fullerton lead.
The Titans were not done scoring yet. Vandiver reached on a fielder's choice and scored after back-to-back singles from Taukeiaho and Gonzalez as Cal State Fullerton extended its lead to five.
Ybarra went back to the circle in the seventh to close the book on the Bulldogs and struck out two batters to bring her strikeout total to a new career-high.
The Riverside, Calif., native finished the game pitching 7.0 innings of work and allowing four hits, while striking out 11. She never allowed a walk and lowered her ERA to 1.69.
Gonzalez was a large contributor at the plate as she finished the game batting 2-for-4 with a home run, four RBIs and a run scored. Vandiver was 2-for-4 with a pair a runs, while Rippy was 1-for-3 with a run batted in.
Fresno State's Compton suffered the loss after pitching just 1.0 inning and surrendering three runs on two hits, while walking one.
Cal State Fullerton looks to extend its winning streak to five games when it travels to CSU Bakersfield on Wednesday, March 23 for a 1 p.m., contest.