April 22, 2007
Box Score
Fullerton, Calif. - After dropping the first two games of the season series to the Titans, the Pacific softball team rebounded to capture the third and final game, 5-4, over Cal State Fullerton on Sunday, April 22. With the win the Tigers improved to 32-15 overall and 7-2 in Big West play while the Titans fell to 27-18 overall and 9-3 in conference action.
In the critical Sunday match up between two of the top three teams in the Big West, the Tigers jumped out front of the Titans in the second inning with a single run to take their first lead of the weekend. Scoring first has become critical for the Tigers throughout the 2007 season as the feat had resulted in a 21-2 record coming into the weekend for Pacific. In the Tigers two losses on Saturday, Cal State Fullerton was able to post the first run in each of the two contests, holding on for wins in each situation.
Sophomore Lauren Weyman (Carlsbad, Calif.) led the inning off with a free trip to first, earning the base the hard way as she was struck on the leg by a wild pitch by Candice Baker. With the first runner on the Tigers pushed Weyman into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt by junior Alyce Jorgensen (Los Altos, Calif.). After the second out of the inning was recorded, sophomore Briana Santos (Garden Grove, Calif.) laced a double into the right-center gap, plating Weyman for Pacific's first run of the game.
The Tigers' lead was short lived, however, as the Titans finally were able to post earned runs on Pacific starter, sophomore Chelsea Engle (Folsom, Calif.) for the first time in three games as they posted single runs in both the third and fourth inning to take a 2-1 lead. For the two runs the Titans used two doubles in the third and a walk and a double in the fourth.
With both Baker and Engle battling fiercely as they had done a day prior, the Tigers finally broke through again in the sixth to recapture the lead with two runs. Senior Jennifer Curtier (Lancaster, Calif.) led the inning off with her second of three walks. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Weyman. With one down and one on, Jorgensen worked a walk of her own to put two runners on for the Tigers. Freshman Karie Wilson (Glendale, Ariz.) then put Tigers at every base with a single into the left side hole that was hit hard enough to keep Courtney Martinez at short from making a play at any base. With the bases loaded and only one out, Santos fly out to left field that was not quiet deep enough to score Curtier from third. Down to their final out in the inning, sophomore Casey Goldsand (Scottsdale, Ariz.) lined the first pitch she saw from Baker into left-center field, scoring both Curtier and junior Lauren Sandelin (Sedro-Woolley, Wash.) who had come into the game as a pinch runner.
With the lead securely in hand, Engle put down the Titans in the bottom of the inning to bring the Tigers back up to the plate in the seventh. With help from the Titans' defense and a timely hit from Jorgensen the Tigers would tack on two crucial insurance runs in the inning to push their lead to three runs at 5-2.
Senior Gina Carbonatto (Lake Stevens, Wash.) led the inning off with a bloop shot into left field that was dropped by Lauren Lupinetti allowing Pacific a leadoff runner. With one out, Curtier was walked for the third time in the game to put runners at first and second for the Tigers. With Weyman up the Tigers again benefited from a Titan miscue in the field as Martinez at short was unable to come up with a sharply hit ball in the hole, once again loading the bases for Pacific with only one out. Instead of waiting, Jorgensen continued her good showing at the plate with a two RBI single to center to help her fellow pitcher out.
With a three run lead, Engle headed back out to the circle to finish what she had started. The two runs the Tigers posted in the top of the inning proved to be incredibly useful as the Titans were able to post two runs through the first two batters of the inning. On two pitches Cal State Fullerton posted a double off the right-center wall and a two-run home run by Jessica Doucette to left-center field. Even with the sudden shift in momentum, Engle remained calm even in the face of the heart of the Titan order. With the No. 2, 3 and 4 hitter coming to the plate, Engle settled in, retiring the remaining Titans on a line drive, a strike out and a fly out to left field.
With the win Engle improved her conference leading record to 18-10 overall. In seven innings of work, Engle gave up eight hits and four runs while walking two and striking out three. Baker threw all seven innings for the Titans as well, relinquishing six hits and five runs while walking four and striking out five.
The win for the Tigers snapped a nine game losing streak to the Titans dating back three seasons.
Pacific will be back in action on Saturday, April 28 as the Tigers host Long Beach State in their final home series of the 2007 season. The first game of the doubleheader is scheduled for 12:00 pm.
