FULLERTON, Calif. - The Cal State Fullerton Titans softball took the series against Long Beach State on Saturday to win their 13th Big West Conference Championship and first since the 2018/19 season.
The conference title comes back to Fullerton after the 2020 season was canceled due to the Covid-19 Pandemic and last year, the Titans only needed to win one game at Long Beach to win the title, but instead were swept on the road. However, this year's crop of Titans refused to let that happen again.
The Titans won the first game of the doubleheader by a score of 2-1 to secure the series against Long Beach State and the conference championship. They fell in the second game 8-3 where both teams were playing for pride.
Megan Delgadillo had four steals for the day to become the new All-Time Career Stolen Base leader in Titan history with 94 steals, besting Ari Williams (2016-2019) record of 93. '
Keep Re-Writing the Record Book �� @megdelgadillo37 #TusksUp pic.twitter.com/0fKx4nWlGC
— Titans Softball (@Fullerton_SB) May 15, 2022
Game 1, Cal State Fullerton 2, Long Beach State 1
The Titans relied on their leaders in the first game and each of them provided a huge spark to secure the win for the Titans.
After struggling a bit in her last few outings, Myka Sutherlin stepped up huge for the Titans in the circle in the win over Long Beach. Sutherlin tossed a complete game and allowed one run on three hits, one walk, and struck out seven.
M3 | Pulled the string on that one @meeksmyka ��#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/Z3GA5lVysE
— Titans Softball (@Fullerton_SB) May 14, 2022
The Titans struck first in the third inning after some stellar baserunning from Megan Delgadillo. Delgadillo singled into left field, stole second, advanced to third on the catcher throwing the ball away. She came around to score on a sac fly to second base on the edge of the outfield grass.
B3 | The Titans strike first! Only �� scores on a sac fly to second @megdelgadillo37 !!#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/uQqqJ87jD5
— Titans Softball (@Fullerton_SB) May 14, 2022
Long Beach tied the game up in the 5th inning on a two out single up the middle.
However, the Titans got that run back in the next inning. Last night's hero, Daisy Munoz, once again provided the theatrics for the Titans. She smacked her 10th home run of the season over the LF wall to give the Titans a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning.
B6 | She did it again! Are you serious @daisymunozz !!!#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/PD3prbn8Vw
— Titans Softball (@Fullerton_SB) May 14, 2022
Sutherlin tossed a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh inning and Bailey Wallace secured the final out in left field to hand the Titans the conference title.
BALLGAME! The Titans are the 2022 Big West Champions!#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/V0QjIEPiV0
— Titans Softball (@Fullerton_SB) May 14, 2022
Game 2, Cal State Fullerton 3, Long Beach State 8
The Titans couldn't complete the sweep in the final game of the regular season as Long Beach State led early and took the final game by a score of 8-3.
The Beach took an early lead after loading the bases with no outs to start the game off. However, the Titans were able to escape the inning allowing only one run to score on a sac fly in the inning.
The Titans responded in the first after Megan Delgadillo walked to start the inning and stole second base to tie the All-Time Titan Career Record of 93 stolen bases.
B1 | @megdelgadillo37 ties the all-time Titan Career stolen bases record with 93 set by Ari Williams#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/8vIbQKCq6f
— Titans Softball (@Fullerton_SB) May 15, 2022
She came around to score on a knock to CF by Peyton Toto
END 1 | @peytontoto1 knocks one to CF to tie it up in the first!
— Titans Softball (@Fullerton_SB) May 15, 2022
LBSU 1, CSF 1#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/xgarqW92Cv
Long Beach regained the lead and held onto it from the second inning after a two-run home run in the second.
The Beach loaded the bases in the third inning and the Titans should've gotten out of the inning again however, a fielding error allowed one run to score.
Both teams loaded the bases in the fourth inning but neither were able to score a run in the inning.
Long Beach added a run in the sixth inning on a solo blast by Mikayla Ceballos.
The Titans got two runs back in the sixth inning to make it a 5-3 game. Antuanett Dean smacked a triple over the right fielder to score one run.
B6 | Power slappin' @AntuanettD ��#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/aWD125pql9
— Titans Softball (@Fullerton_SB) May 15, 2022
Megan Delgadillo singled to the shortstop to score Dean to make it 5-3.
B6 | @megdelgadillo37 brings in another run to make it a 5-3 game!#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/14fsb5ny5G
— Titans Softball (@Fullerton_SB) May 15, 2022
Delgadillo then stole her 47th base of the season to make her the All-Time Career Record Holder in steals in the inning.
THERE IT IS! ANOTHER RECORD BROKEN! @megdelgadillo37 is your new All-Time Career Titan Stolen Base Leader ��#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/C2ZPs1Z1UO
— Titans Softball (@Fullerton_SB) May 15, 2022
Long Beach loaded the bases in the seventh inning on walks and Justine Briones got three big insurance runs after a double to make it an 8-3 game.
The Titans loaded the bases in the seventh inning, but there was no more juice left in the tank and the Titans left them stranded to close out the game.
This was the 13th Big West Title won by the Titans and the 5th under Coach Kelly Ford's tenure as the manager of the Titans.
NOTES: Megan Delgadillo's 47 steals also ties her with the most single steals in a season in the Big West with Dionne Anderson of UCR who set the record in 2014. With 33 career home runs, Daisy Munoz is now tied for 3rd all time with Jenny Topping. She also moves into 5th place all-time with 129 RBIs.
WATCH THE TITANS ON ESPN+
Titans fans can now watch every home softball game exclusively on ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a top-tier production studio to give the viewers an ESPN quality production for all games at Anderson Family Field. Additionally, all schools in the Big West Conference are committed to producing ESPN quality streams which will allow fans to watch the Titans on ESPN+ for all road conference games.
FOLLOW THE TITANS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (FullertonTitans). In addition, the softball team has established its own Twitter (fullerton_sb) and Instagram accounts (fullerton_sb).
