SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton (3-3) lost a tough battle 9-8 to North Dakota State (3-3) on a walkoff double in game one of the Friday double-header and then fell to No. 25/25 Kentucky (3-2) in five innings in game number two.
Game one turned into an offensive battle between Fullerton and North Dakota State as there was a combined 17 runs and 26 hits for the game. Both teams got things going in the first inning as the Titans plated a run and the Bison responded with two runs in the bottom half.
In the second, freshman Taylor Dockins led off the inning for her first career at-bat and proceeded to single up the middle for her first career hit. Sophomore catcher Julia Valenzuela followed that up by blasting one to straightaway center for her first career home run. However, NDSU would respond with a four-spot in the bottom half and they reclaimed the lead going into the third.
Neither team would score in the third, making it the only inning where a run didn't score for the contest. The Titans would battle back with two runs in the fourth, two in the fifth, and would take the lead with a run in the sixth. On the other side, North Dakota would score one in the fourth, but was shut down in the fifth giving Fullerton all of the momentum. However, the Bison fought back scoring a run in the sixth giving us a tie ballgame heading to the final frame.
Fullerton got a pair of baserunners thanks to singles from Sammie Vandiver and Ari Williams, but couldn't scrape a run across. NDSU would get a runner into scoring position and a walkoff double from Bre Beatty down the line would end it as the Bison would give the Titans their second loss of the season.
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Scheduled for a double-header, it was a quick turnaround for Fullerton as they had to get ready to face No. 25/25 Kentucky. The Wildcats wasted no time jumping out to an early 2-0 lead on four singles in the top of the first. A leadoff walk and a quick steal for Brooke Clemetson put a runner in scoring position for Fullerton in the bottom half. She would come around to score as Williams legged out an infield single and an error on the play would allow Clemetson to score.
The second inning was by far the quickest inning of the day as freshman Hannah Johnson needed less than 10 pitches to retire Kentucky and get her offense back to the dish. Unfortunately, the Titans could only manage a 2-out walk in their half before being retired.
Kentucky came back in the third and got a pair of runs courtesy of the long ball off the bat of Jenny Schaper giving them a 3-run lead. Fullerton answered back as Clemetson would walk, advance to second on a wild pitch, steal third and score on an errant throw from the catcher. That would be the final run Fullerton would score on the day.
The Wildcats would get another run across in the fourth and have a monster inning in the fifth, getting five runs across giving them an 8-run rule. Needing at least one to avoid the run rule, the Titans got a pair of runners on base with nobody out. But some hard hit balls right at the Wildcat defense caused Fullerton to strand both of them and the run-rule would come in to play.
The Titans will have their chance at revenge tomorrow night as they face Kentucky again at 6:00 p.m. for the night cap of day two of the Campbell/Cartier Tournament.
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