March 27, 2011
Box Score - Game 1 | Box Score - Game 2
FULLERTON, CA - The Cal State Fullerton softball team closed out the non-conference portion of its 2011 schedule with a doubleheader split on Sunday afternoon, opening with a 1-0 victory over Cal State Bakersfield before falling to the Roadrunners, 6-2, in nine innings.
The Titans, who open Big West Conference play next weekend on the road at UC Santa Barbara, move to 11-15 overall with the split while Bakersfield improved to 7-17 overall with its game two victory.
GAME 1: CAL STATE FULLERTON 1, CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD 0
Senior Ari Cervantes tossed a four-hit shutout and reshirt freshman Latisha Dedeaux's RBI single in the second held up as the Titans posted the 1-0 win to start the day.
Cervantes (9-8) struck out five in earning her third shutout of the year, allowing only one runner to reach second base (a lead-off double by Emily Bliss in the fifth) and facing just four over the minimum in the complete-game win.
Junior Nicole Johnson led-off the second with a double to left and moved to third on Torrie Anderson's strikeout that the catcher couldn't corral, putting runners at the corners with no outs. After a pop-up on a bunt, Dedeaux laced her second career hit into right centerfield, plating Johnson for the only run of the game.
Cervantes retired eight in a row at one point and allowed three of the Roadrunners' four hits over the final three innings, but got a key lineout double play in the fifth to erase the potential tying run in scoring position and shut the door in the seventh with a strikeout and ground out after a one-out single.
Cervantes and Adriana Martinez also finished with hits for Fullerton while Karissa Veiga was 2-for-3 for Bakersfield.
CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD 6, CAL STATE FULLERTON 2 (9)
Veiga's bases-clearing triple was the key blow in the top of the ninth, breaking a 2-2 tie and helping Bakersfield earn a split with a, 6-2, extra-inning win.
Three Titan errors contributed mightily to the Roadrunners' rally as Bakersfield was down to its final out in the seventh in a 2-1 ballgame before a misplay at first on what was thought to be the game-ending ground ball by Veiga allowed Shay Fryer to score from second base to tie the game.
Both teams left runners on in the eighth, including Fullerton which had pinch runner Jena Rubio reach third on a single by Johnson, but the Roadrunners caught the Titans' junior trying to take the extra base, sending it to the ninth.
There, Tera Macias reached on an infield hit and was pinch-run for by Stefanie Frei, who moved all the way to third when Fryer's sacrifice attempt was thrown away. Laura King then reached on a fielder's choice to short to load the bases for Veiga, who looped the first pitch she saw just over the outstretched glove of the Titans' centerfielder for a triple, clearing the bases for a 5-2 lead.
Jamie Miller then followed with a sacrifice fly to right for the four-run advantage and Sarah Hoag (2-5) worked around a walk and an infield hit to clinch the victory with a pair of ground ball outs.
The Roadrunners plated the first run of the game on an RBI single by Macias in the second, but Fullerton rallied for two runs in its half of the inning on an infield RBI hit by Martinez and a two-out RBI single by Lauren Mario for the 2-1 advantage, but Bakersfield worked away from any further damage, cutting down a runner at the plate to keep the deficit at one run.
Sophomore Katey Laban (0-4) suffered the loss in relief of starter Aly Fascetti, allowing just two earned on six hits over seven innings of work, striking out three.
Johnson finished 3-for-4 at the plate while Martinez added a pair of hits to lead the Titans. Amy Ricciardi and Macias each had two hits to pace the Roadrunners.
Both teams had their chances to break the game open as Fullerton stranded seven runners on base for the game - six of those in scoring position - while Bakersfield also left seven on, three in scoring position.