FULLERTON, Calif. – The Titans (1-1) split the opening day double-header with a win over Rutgers (0-2) and a loss to Utah State (1-1). They're scheduled for two more games this weekend as the Titan Classic continues.
The day started with the very anticipated debut of freshman Taylor Dockins and she delivered. Throwing six shutout innings and only allowing four baserunners (three hits and one walk), Dockins picked up her first career collegiate win. She relied a lot on her defense a lot only striking out one Scarlet Knight in the game, but her off-speed kept the hitters out in front resulting in 11 groundball outs.
Offensively, Fullerton was led by senior Bryanna Ybarra. Hitting out of the seven hole as the designated player, Ybarra went 2-3 in game one with a double and a pair of RBI. The Titans finished with seven hits for the game from six different players including Ybarra. The biggest inning came in the fifth after back-to-back walks from Ari Williams and Zoe Richard put runners on base for the heart of the lineup. Freshman Deshea Hill would connect for a sac fly to bring in one run, followed by an RBI double from Shianne Brannan. Ybarra brought in run number three with a single up the middle.
It looked like a cruise control win, but Rutgers fought back in the seventh inning getting five runs across including a grand slam with two outs. Kenzie Grimes would come out of the pen and put a stop to the bleeding though as the Titans held on for the 6-5 win.
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Fullerton came in riding the excitement of winning the season opener, but Utah State wasted no time getting things going. Riley Plogger poked one just over the left field fence for a solo shot to give the Aggies the early lead. Freshman Hannah Johnson settled in though shutting out the Aggies until the fifth after the home run. This gave the Titans a chance to bring it back…and they did thanks to a whole lot of speed.
A leadoff double from Irieanna Siofele got CSF going in the third inning. After getting a little banged up on the slide into second, freshman Sam Kennedy would come off the bench to run for her. She would come into score on a wild pitch to tie up the game. After a Clemetson infield knock, she would go on to steal second, advance to third on the wild pitch that scored Kennedy, and came into score on a shallow fly ball off the bat of Williams. Yea, she's got wheels.
The Titans held the 2-1 lead going into the fifth. An infield knock from Clarke tied up the game and that was the end of the night for Johnson, who had a quality debut in the circle (4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 4 K). Grimes would come out of the pen again looking to shut down the Aggies, but her first test was a red-hot Plogger (2-3 in USU's first game and 2-2 with a HR at this point). Plogger got a mistake pitch and launched it way out into right-center making it a 4-2 game in favor of Utah State lead and that proved to be the difference maker. Fullerton strung together a pair of hits in the sixth, but couldn't get anybody across the plate resulting in a 5-2 loss after the Aggies tacked on another run in the top of the seventh.
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Stats from the day (starting lineup)
Clemetson: 2-6, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 SB
Vandiver: 1-6
Williams: 0-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 SB
Richard: 1-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Hill: 2-4, 1 RBI
Brannan: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB
Ybarra: 2-6, 2B, 2 RBI
Siofele: 2-2, 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Valenzuela: 0-3
Pitching
Dockins: Win (1-0), 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Johnson: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K
Grimes: Save (1), Loss (0-1), 2.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R (1 ER), 2 BB
Rodman: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 1 BB
The Titan Classic will continue tomorrow with five games total. Cal State Fullerton only plays once tomorrow with a matchup against Pittsburgh (2-0) at 5:30 p.m.
For the full schedule and much more from the Titan Classic, visit the Hub Page.
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