Senior infielder Missy Taukeiaho hit a grand slam in the third inning of Sunday’s game against UC Riverside to give the Titans an 8-2 lead in the third inning. Fullerton went on to win the conference game 12-2 and secure the sweep in its first Big West matchup of the season.
(Patrick Do / Daily Titan)
Coming off a close 5-4 loss to UCLA last week, the Cal State Fullerton softball team swept the UC Riverside Highlanders 3-0 in its opening conference series at Anderson Family Field over the weekend.
Game 1
The Titans got off to a rock-solid start as Missy Taukeiaho blasted her fourth home run of the season for a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
“She already knows coming in she’s not going to get a lot of good pitches, and those are intentional,” said Fullerton Head Coach Kelly Ford. “That first at-bat she makes that statement; that was incredible.”
Taukeiaho was locked in, continuing her exploits as she walked twice and hit an RBI double to left field in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Highlanders tied the game 1-1 at the top of the third when Haley Harris singled to left field, scoring Madeline Richard.
The tie was short-lived, however, as Alexis Gonzalez hit a two-run homer to left center field, giving the Titans a 3-1 lead at the bottom of the third.
Fullerton released the hounds throughout the remainder of the game, scoring two runs in the fourth inning and four more in the sixth to force a 9-1 mercy-rule finish.
In the circle, Desiree Ybarra pitched a complete game, allowing only one run, giving up five hits and striking out seven batters.
Game 2
Freshman righty Sydney Golden got the nod in the circle for the second game of the afternoon against UC Riverside.
Taukeiaho, just as focused as she was in the prior game, belted a double to right center, scoring Samantha Vandiver to give the Titans an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. Taukeiaho later walked home off a fielding error to take the Titans’ lead to 2-0 in the first inning.
Golden and the Titan defense controlled the game until Riverside strung together a few hits and scored an unearned run off a throwing error at the top of the fourth.
The Highlanders threatened to score again in the sixth inning as they gathered two hits but left a runner on base.
Ybarra came back to close out the game and the Titans won their second straight of the day 2-1.
Game 3
The Titans secured their sweep over the Highlanders with a huge 12-2 win Sunday.
Once again, Taukeiaho led the charge for the Titans, as she batted 2-for-3 and bombed a grand slam over the left-center fence in the bottom of the third.
The Titans had taken an early 3-0 lead in the first inning off of runs from Vandiver, Taukeiaho and Gonzalez. Fullerton scored again in the second inning when Gonzalez hit an RBI single, scoring Megan Estacio and taking a 4-0 lead.
The Highlanders’ only runs of the day came in the top of the third when Chelsey Holley doubled down the right field, bringing in two runs to make the score 4-2.
The threat did not materialize into a comeback as the Titans went on to score five more runs at the bottom of the frame and three more in the fourth inning to force another mercy after five innings.
Fullerton’s sweep over Riverside gives the Titans a 28-10 overall and a 3-0 Big West Conference record. With the start of conference play, the Titans will now get longer rest periods between games.
“It’s a little bit easier for us now. We know we got three (games), got to get through the first two and just keep the momentum going,” Taukeiaho said. “It prepared us big time playing five games in one weekend; now this is money, we’ve only got three.”
Fullerton softball returns to action next week, as it travels to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for a three-game series against the Mustangs on Saturday and Sunday.
