NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton softball team stunned CSUN in 11-1 and 7-0 victories to clinch the series win in Friday's doubleheader at the Matador Diamond. The Titans improved to 23-11 and 12-2 in Big West play.Â
Cal State Fullerton 11, CSUN 1 (5 innings)
CSUN used three hits to take a 1-0 lead in the first inning. The Titans answered with four runs in the second to take a 4-1 lead, highlighted by a fielder's choice and singles from
Maggie Paulovich and
Kate Verhoef.Â
Lulu Sanchez led off the fourth with a double to right field, starting a three-run rally on four hits.
Sarah Perez drove in
Amira Paloma Villaneda, who pinch-ran for Sanchez, and
Colby McClinton added two runs on a bunt to extend the lead to 7-1.Â
A four-run fifth inning secured the run-rule victory for the Titans.
Nataly Lozano scored on a wild pitch, and Sanchez extended Fullerton's lead to 9-1 with her second hit up the middle. An error and a rundown helped the Titans close out the 11-1 win in five innings.Â
Trisha McCleskey (12-7) pitched her ninth complete game of the season, allowing one run on four hits with three walks and two strikeouts over five innings.
Cal State Fullerton 7, CSUN 0
Eva Hurtado held the Matadors hitless through three innings before pitching a one-hit, seven-inning complete game shutout, her second of the year. Through seven innings, she recorded a career-high nine strikeouts with one walk.Â
The Titans beat CSUN to the board in the second game, opening the game with an RBI single by Coccillos to give the Titans a 1-0 lead.Â
Nataly Lozano extended Fullerton's lead to 2-0 in the top of the fourth with her eighth home run of the season. Her solo shot marked her fourth leadoff home run and 27th RBI of the season.Â
After adding a run in the fourth, the Titans broke the game open in the fifth inning with a four-run rally on four hits, capitalizing on a CSUN error to extend the lead to 6-0. Two doubles by Coccillos and Sanchez, paired with two stolen bases by Lozano, and a bunt by Paulovich awarded the 6-0 lead.Â
The Titans added an insurance run in the sixth for a 7-0 lead, while finishing the game with seven runs on eight hits.Â
The Titans return to Matador Stadium for the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.Â
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