May 10, 2008
FULLERTON, CA - UC Santa Barbara's Tiffany Wright finished 3-for-5 with a home run and five RBI and the Gauchos' offense banged out 17 hits on the afternoon as they handed host Cal State Fullerton an 11-7 loss in the regular season finale for both teams on Saturday afternoon at Anderson Family Field.
The Titans ended the season 27-26-1 overall and 11-10 in Big West Conference play. UCSB improved to 30-24 overall and 13-8 in league play with the victory.
Tisha Duran's RBI single in the third gave the Gauchos the early 1-0 lead, but that wouldn't be all for UC Santa Barbara, which put up six runs in the fourth - keyed by a grand slam by Wright - and tacked on two more runs in the fifth on Wright's RBI double and Duran's sacrifice fly to go up 9-0.
Down to their final three outs of the game, the Titans responded in a big way in their half of the fifth, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs to make it a two-run contest.
Back-to-back hits by Torrie Anderson and Sheila Holguin set the table for senior Crystal Vieyra, who doubled to the gap in right centerfield with one out, cutting the deficit to 9-2.
After Gauchos starter Tami Weston got a fly ball for out number two, the Titans' bats responded in a big way. Katie Gollhardt followed with a two-run home run (her sixth of the season) to left centerfield, and was followed three batters later by Lauren Lupinetti, who slugged a three-run shot to left field (her seventh of the season) to make it a 9-7 game.
However, that would be as close as Fullerton would be able to get as the Gauchos got a two-run home run from Nicole Churnock in the sixth and Lindsey Correa shut the door in relief allowing only one hit in 2 1/3 innings of work and stranding runners at the corners in the seventh to end the game.
Weston (11-6) earned the win despite allowing seven runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out three in 4 2/3 innings of work. Hiner (14-13) suffered the loss, allowing eight earned runs on 16 hits in five innings of work. Ari Cervantes finished the game, allowing two runs on one hit in two innings.
Vieyra led the Titans with a 2-for-3 day, driving in two, while six other players finished with hits on the day.
Cal State Fullerton now must wait for the decision of the NCAA selection committee as to their postseason fate. The 64-team field for the NCAA Tournament will be announced on Sunday night (May 11) at 7 p.m. PDT on ESPNU with a bracket recap at 7:30 p.m.PDT on ESPNews.