FULLERTON, Calif. – Titan Softball is back with another installment of our Alumni Spotlight, and this time we are focusing on a pair of Titans that finished their collegiate careers with Cal State Fullerton just last year. Lexi Gonzalez is playing for the Puerto Rican National team and Kelsey Kessler is pitching for the Venezuelan National team.
"It's amazing to see these girls not only continuing to play, but now playing internationally," head coach Kelly Ford said. "I couldn't be more excited for them to be taking their game to the next level and I am so honored that they are continuing to go out and represent as proud Titans."
Lexi Gonzalez arrived at Cal State Fullerton as a transfer for her sophomore season. Before joining the Titans, she played for the Oregon State Beavers where she started 43 games her freshman year. One of those games was against Cal State Fullerton and she turned in a 3-for-4 effort with a pair of RBI.
The Covina native then returned to her home state to finish out her career. In her sophomore season she served primarily as a pinch-hitter under coach Ford and finished the year with a .306 overall batting average including a stellar .467 average in conference play. In a game against Nevada that season, she hit her first career grand slam and helped carry the Titans to a 9-1 victory.
Gonzalez came into her junior year as the primary catcher for the Titans. In 57 games, she hit a solid .325 and led the team in RBI with 45 including 13 multi-RBI games. More notably, she posted a team-best on base streak of 22 consecutive games. She was apart of the All-Big West First Team and the NFCA All-West Region Second Team.
The right-handed slugger entered her senior season serving as the designated player and had a great year. She posted a .316 batting average and posted her career-best 10 home runs on the season leading the team. She also led the team in RBI (40) for the second consecutive season. She received All-Big West First Team honors again as well as NFCA All-West Region Third Team honors.
Gonzalez just finished playing in the Canada Cup in Surrey, British Columbia for the Puerto Rican National Team. She will look to make a spot on the team's final roster for the Pan Am Olympic Qualifier in August.
"International ball is way different than college ball," said Gonzalez. "Playing on a national team, you are representing more than a college or yourself at that point; you are representing a nation. For me, it's even more than that too because I get to represent my great grandma who passed away last June. Her and I were very close and she was the rock of our family."
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Kelsey Kessler's collegiate career took place across three different schools, ending of course with Cal State Fullerton.
The Missouri native initially stayed in the midwest playing her freshman and sophomore years for the University of Kansas. As a freshman, posted a 12-6 record with a 2.19 ERA, including an impressive 7-3 record in Big 12 play. She received All-Big 12 Second Team honors as well as Team Co-Freshman of the Year.
She picked up where she left off in her sophomore season posting a 20-15 record with a 2.50 ERA. She ended the year with 250 strikeouts, which is good for seventh most in Jayhawks' history for a single season. She was named to the NFCA All-Region Third Team.
Kessler was forced to redshirt her junior year due to her transfer to Arizona State. In her redshirt-junior season of 2016, she led the Sun Devils in wins (12) and ERA (2.90). The season included her second career no-hitter, both against Texas Tech.
The right-hander then brought her talents to Fullerton and immediately became the ace of the Titan pitching staff. In 192 innings, she sported a 20-9 record and a remarkable 1.86 ERA. She ranked in the Big West Top 5 for wins (2nd), ERA (5th), and strikeouts (3rd). At the end of the year, she received NFCA All-West Region First Team honors as well as All-Big West Conference First Team honors.
Kessler just finished pitching in the Canada Cup in Surrey, British Columbia for the Venezuelan National Team and will continue her training in preparation for the Pan Am Olympic Qualifier in August. She joins another former Titan, Desiree Ybarra, on the pitching staff for Venezuela.
"I didn't really know what to expect with the team going in," said Kessler. "But despite language barriers and completely different backgrounds, every single one of the women on the [Venezuelan] team was incredibly welcoming and genuinely happy to be playing. It was refreshing."
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Gonzalez and Kessler join Ybarra and Missy Taukeiaho as former Titans currently playing international softball. To read up on what Missy and Desi are doing, click HERE.
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