NCAA Press Conference
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton softball team defeated Cal Baptist in a 3-2 walk-off before falling 4-2 to South Carolina in the second elimination game of the NCAA Los Angeles Regional. The 2026 Big West champions finished the 2026 season 41-15 overall, 24-3 in conference, and 1-2 at the NCAA Tournament.Â
As a team, the Titans slashed .337/.395/.493 overall with 499 hits, 76 doubles, six triples, 48 home runs, 290 RBI, 325 runs scored and 100 stolen bases. The defense, led by associate head coach
Jorge Araujo, set a new program record with a nationally-ranking .976 fielding percentage.Â
Cal St. Fullerton 3, Cal Baptist 2
The Titans jumped to an early 1-0 lead over the Lancers in the first inning when
Alexia Lopez doubled to right field, scoring
Colby McClinton from first base. McClinton (3-for-3, 2B, 3 R) reached base on an infield single.Â
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Cal Baptist answered with a two-out, two-run home run in the top of the second to take a 2-1 lead over the Titans.Â
Timely hitting proved to be a challenge for the Titans, who left seven runners on base. Fullerton stranded two runners in scoring position in the third inning after
Sarah Perez (1-for-3, BB) drew a leadoff walk and McClinton doubled to right field. The Titans were unable to capitalize, recording two popups and a flyout to right field.
Perez kept the Lancers off the board in the fourth with a diving catch. In the bottom half of the inning,
Sarah Coccillos singled up the middle to snap a four-game hitless streak.
The Titans began to flip the momentum in the fifth inning as
Ava Arce (2-for-4, 2 RBI) evened the game at 2-2 on an RBI single to right field. The 124th career RBI of the senior first baseman's career tied Deshea Hill (2018-23) for the 10th-most in program history.Â
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Starting pitcher
Eva Hurtado issued her second walk in the seventh, putting the go-ahead run on first base before her defense erased the lead runner on a fielder's choice. With two outs and a runner on first, Cal Baptist was called out of the box to end the inning.Â
Perez led off the inning with a double to center before getting called out at third base. McClinton followed by drawing a walk and Lopez was hit by a pitch. Arce called game with a single to center that scored McClinton from second base, breaking onto the program's top 10 with the 125th RBI of her career.
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Hurtado (16-4) pitched her sixth complete game of the season, improving to 16-4 overall. Over seven innings, the sophomore held the Lancers to two runs on four hits, while issuing two walks and striking out three.Â
No. 7 South Carolina 4, Cal St. Fullerton 2
The Titans and Gamecocks met for the second time this weekend after the Titans eliminated Cal Baptist in walk-off fashion and No. 8 UCLA defeated South Carolina, 7-2, on Saturday.
Starting pitcher
Leanna Garcia's exited in the top of the third inning after the Gamecocks opened with a single and a double to the warning track. Garcia held South Carolina scoreless through two innings, allowing three hits and one walk.
Eva Hurtado entered in relief, making her second appearance of the day. Hurtado found the inning's first out on a swinging strikeout before a sacrifice fly to right-center field gave the Gamecocks a 1-0 lead.Â
The Titans answered in the bottom of the fourth, taking a 2-1 lead when
Maggie Paulovich delivered an RBI double to left-center field, and
Sarah Coccillos hit a first-pitch RBI single.Â
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Hurtado's night ended in the fifth inning after the Gamecocks retook a 3-2 lead on an RBI double to left-center and an RBI single to center. Across 2.2 innings of work, the right-hander allowed two earned runs on three hits, walked two and struck out one.Â
Trisha McClesky, who took the loss in Friday's 7-4 loss to South Carolina, entered in relief and ended the inning with a called third strike.Â
The Titans had a chance to score the tying run in the bottom of the fifth, but Perez was called out at home while attempting to score on a wild pitch. Perez, who doubled earlier in the inning, extended her hitting streak to 22 games.Â
South Carolina extended its lead to 4-2 in the seventh inning on a double to right-center field. McCleskey saw 2.1 innings in the circle, allowing one run on two hits and four strikeouts.
SUPPORT THE TITANS!
Fans can purchase tickets for various Cal State Fullerton athletic events by visiting FullertonTitansTickets.com. The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 657-278-2783 or by email at athletictixs@fullerton.edu. The Ticket Office is located at the Titan Baseball ticketing office and is open from 10 am – 4 pm PT, Monday – Friday.
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WATCH THE TITANS ON ESPN+
Titans fans can now watch home contests exclusively on ESPN+. Cal State Fullerton has built a top-tier production studio to give the viewers an ESPN-quality production for Titans Athletics. Additionally, all schools in the Big West Conference are committed to producing ESPN-quality streams, which will allow fans to watch the Titans on ESPN+ for all road conference games.
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