FULLERTON, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton softball team completed the series sweep over Cal State Bakersfield in a 11-0 run-rule and 6-5 victory on Saturday, closing out the regular season with a 22-5 conference record. The Titans recorded seven total conference sweeps of the season.Â
Ava Arce recorded five RBI across the two-game doubleheader, including a two-run, go-ahead home run to set the new single-season program record with 60 RBI. She surpassed the previous mark of 59 RBI set by
Jenny Topping in 2001.Â
Cal State Fullerton 11, Cal State Bakersfield 0 (5 innings)
Ava Arce (2-for-3, 3 R, 2 2B) recorded her 56th RBI of the season in the first inning on a double to left-center field that scored
Sarah Perez (3-for-3, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2B) from third base. Arce collected her 21st extra-base hit of the season, while Perez earned her seventh.Â
Nataly Lozano blasted her seventh home run of the season, finishing 1-for-3 with two RBI, while
Abigail Salazar extended the Titans lead to 5-0 with her first-career double.
The Titans plated six additional runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by a single to center field by Perez, a two-run double by Arce and a three-run double to left-center field by
Sophia Guevara.Â
In the circle,
Eva Hurtado earned her sixth win of the season, tossing a complete-game, three-hit shutout with two strikeouts and one walk.Â
Cal State Fullerton 6, Cal State Bakersfield 5
In a back-and-forth battle, the Titans fought off an early 0-3 deficit to complete the sweep over the Roadrunners. The Titans answered with two runs in the second inning before a four-run sixth inning gave the Titans the 6-5 edge.
Kristalyn Romulo had a perfect day at the plate, going 4-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base, her 21st of the season. Salazar brought the Titans back into the game in the second inning with a two-run blast to dead-center field after sending one foul a pitch prior for her first career home run.Â
Ava Arce provided the go-ahead with a two-run homer, her 11th of the season, to pass
Jenny Topping as the program leader for most RBI hit by a Titan in a single season. Arce's 60 RBI lead The Big West, while ranking her tied for 20th in the nation.Â
Two base hits to the left side of the field by
KK Christie and Romulo gave the Titans a 6-3 lead over the Roadrunners heading into the seventh inning.Â
Trisha McCleskey (16-7) earned the win, pitching 6.1 innings and allowing five runs on nine hits, striking out five. With the score at 6-5 and a runner on first base,
Eva Hurtado came in for the final two outs, recording her first save of the season.
After clinching The Big West regular-season title on Friday, the Titans now turn their focus on hosting the inaugural conference tournament. As the No. 1 seed, they will play their first game on Thursday, May 8 at 1:00 p.m. at Anderson Family Field.Â
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