Senior third baseman Missy Taukeiaho hit her seventh home run in her first at-bat against the San Diego Toreros. In fear of her bat, the Toreros intentionally waked her in her next appearance at the plate.
(Patrick Do / Daily Titan Stock Photo)
The Cal State Fullerton softball team looks to sustain its status as the hottest team on campus as it travels to Hawaii to take on the Rainbow Wahine in another pivotal conference series matchup.
The first-place Titans (35-10 overall, 9-0 Big West) remain perfect through conference play and have won 10 straight games. Hawaii (20-22 overall, 4-5 Big West) currently resides in sixth place in Big West Conference standings.
CSUF’s current win streak is the longest the program has seen since its 2005 campaign in which it won 11 consecutive games and went to the NCAA regionals.
The Titans are coming off Tuesday’s impressive victory at Anderson Family Field, where they beat the San Diego Toreros 8-2. The Titans capitalized on four San Diego errors and received solid pitching in the circle from starter Cerissa Rivera and the bullpen.
The Rainbow Wahine are coming off their first series win of the conference season, taking two of three games from the UC Riverside Highlanders (28-14-1 overall, 4-5 Big West). Their play over the weekend was sparked by senior second baseman Tayana Mata, who was recognized this week as the Big West Field Player of the Week.
The Titans have been stellar in all facets of the game and boast an impressive team ERA of 2.12 and a collective .309 batting average, ranking them first and second in each category in the Big West, respectively. CSUF has also been impressive defensively, ranking second in conference play behind UC Riverside with a .969 fielding percentage.
Fullerton has been led all season by two-time, back-to-back Big West all-American, senior infielder Missy Taukeiaho as she heads Titan starters with an outstanding .394 batting average, seven home runs and 31 RBIs.
Junior catcher Alexis Gonzalez has been another outstanding offensive source of power for the Titans, as she has also crushed seven home runs and leads the team with 35 RBIs.
Pitchers Desiree Ybarra and Sydney Golden have been key for CSUF in the circle, as they boast impressive ERAs of 1.76 and 1.78, respectively. They both rank second and third, respectively, in conference in total ERA.
Hawaii has struggled overall to get hits on the board, recording a mediocre .241 team batting average.
The strength of the team is its pitching staff, which has posted a solid 3.13 collective ERA. They are led by Brittany Hitchcock, who has an impressive 2.38 ERA (fifth in Big West) in 21 starts this season.
The Titans begin the series in Hawaii at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by a doubleheader Saturday at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.