FULLERTON, Calf. - The Titans went 1-1 in their doubleheader against the Cal Poly Mustangs in their second Big West Conference series Saturday afternoon. The Titans dropped the first game to Cal Poly in extra innings (1-0) and won the second game (4-2) by scoring all four runs in an explosive fifth inning.
With the win and the loss, the Titans are 20-17 overall and lead 3-2 in the Big West Conference. They will face the Mustangs again tomorrow for the third and final game of the series at 1 p.m. PT at the Anderson Family Field.
Game One
In the first game of the day, pitcher Cerissa Rivera dominated the game by pitching all eight innings and had a no hitter all throughout the first seven innings. The two-time Big West Player of the Week had her first earned run for the first time in last five games that she's pitched. Rivera totaled five strikeouts on the game and overall has 23 strikeouts for the past three consecutive games.
Samantha Vandiver and Sydney Colenzo both went two for three at bat, but the Mustang's defense wouldn't allow the Titans to score.
In the eighth inning, Cal Poly's Courtney Tyler homered to left field for the 1-0 win for the Mustangs to end game one.
Game Two
Pitcher Kelsey Kessler (11-5) picked up her eleventh win for the Titans in the second game against the Mustangs. Kessler had two runs on six hits and six strikeouts in all seven innings. Kessler also hit the century mark in strikeouts for the Titans and has totaled 109 innings pitched so far this season. Lindsey Chalmers (10-4) took the loss for Cal Poly with four runs, all unearned, on six hits in 4.2 innings.
The Mustangs got action started in the second inning by Hailey Martin smacking a double to bat in Courtney Tyler for the Mustang's first run of the game.
The Titans answered back with a fiery fifth inning that tallied four runs on five hits. Kylie Padilla opened the inning by reaching first on an error from Cal Poly's second baseman. Kelsie Whitmore then came in to pinch run for Padilla.
Ariana Williams, Delynn Rippy front loaded the bases with Whitmore on third. Samantha Vandiver singled to bat in Whitmore, followed by a base hit from Lexi Gonzalez to receive the RBI for Williams.
Mikaela Francis singled to get on first, and Gonzalez reached third from an error from the center fielder to score in Vandiver and Rippy.
Cal Poly's Sierra Hyland made it interesting in the top of the sixth inning with a home run to bring the Mustangs up to two runs. The Titans finished the game with a 4-2 win to finish the doubleheader 1-1.
Overall for the day, the Titans scored four runs on 14 hits and committed zero errors. Delynn Rippy and Samantha Vandiver each tallied three hits for the day.
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