FULLERTON, Calif. – No. 1 seed Cal State Fullerton fell to No. 5 Hawai'i, 11-5, in their first game at the inaugural Big West Softball Championship. The Titans drop to the elimination bracket where they will face No. 3 seed UC Santa Barbara tonight at 7:00 p.m.
The Rainbow Wahine broke onto the board in the first inning after loading the bases and scoring on an overturned force-out call at third base.
Nataly Lozano (3-for-4, RBI, R) quickly tied the game for the Titans at 1-1 in the bottom half of the inning with a single down the left-field line that scored
Colby McClinton (hit by pitch).
Sarah Perez (2-for-4, R) opened the bottom of the third inning with an infield single before back-to-back base knocks to right-center field by Lozano and
Ava Arce (1-for-4, RBI) gave the Titans a 2-1 lead.
McClinton (1-for-3, HR, RBI, 2 R) smashed her second home run of the season in her first game back at second base since the UC Riverside series. The jack to center field extended Fullerton's lead to 5-1 in the fourth inning while recording McClinton's 22nd RBI of the season.
Trisha McCleskey (7.0 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 10 K) found momentum after the first inning, retiring 11 straight batters through the next four frames. The Rainbow Wahine closed the gap to 5-2 in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI double by a pinch hitter. McCleskey's outing came to a pause in the seventh inning as the Rainbow Wahine scored two runs to close the Titans lead to 5-4, but not before she set a new career-high outing with nine strikeouts.
Eva Hurtado entered in relief of McCleskey, inheriting runners at the corners with one out before giving up a go-ahead three-run home run. McCleskey returned to the circle still in search of two outs but not before Hawai'i plated nine runs off two errors for an 11-5 comeback lead.
The Titans return to the field on Thursday night to face UC Santa Barbara, who swept the Titans earlier this season, in search of extending their run at The Big West Softball Championship. First pitch is slated for 7:00 p.m.
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