BAKERSFIELD, Calif.
- In the bottom of the seventh inning, Emily Bliss (R-Jr., Northridge,
Calif., Chaminade Prep) singled in the winning run, topping off a 4-for-4
performance at the plate, to lift the CSU Bakersfield team to an 8-7 victory
over Cal State Fullerton to split Friday's doubleheader with the Titans at
Roadrunner Softball Complex.
The 'Runners (2-5), playing in
their 2012 home opener, lost the first game to the Titans (3-4) 4-1 in extra innings.
With help from a two-run
home run from Sara Smith (Sr., Northridge, Calif. Biola Univ.), her first as a
Roadrunner, CSUB took a 4-0 lead before a five-run Titan fourth inning, added
with another two-run sixth, gave Cal State Fullerton (3-4) a 7-6 lead heading into
the bottom of the seven.
Smith led the frame off
with a sneaky bunt single, but after a fielder's choice and pop out, CSUB was
down to its final out. That's when Bree Sandoval (Fr., La Verne, Calif., Bonita
HS) reached on an error to put runners at first and second and bring Karissa Veiga (So., Hemet, Calif., Hemet HS) to the plate. Veiga ripped a single to
center field to score Myshayla Fryer (So., San Diego, Calif., Universtiy HS)
home and even the score at 7-all. Then Bliss stepped up to the plate and
crushed the ball over Titan left fielder Leesa Harris' head to drive in Sandoval
as the winning run.
"That was an exciting
game," said CSUB head coach Crissy Buck. "I am proud that we kept battling and
battling and we are starting to get a taste of winning now and that is the
first step. We had a sour taste after the loss in the first game and we knew
that they gave them that game. We froze up and didn't play our ball."
Taylor DeSilva (So.,
Sunnyvale, Calif., Univ. of the Pacific) made her collegiate pitching debut in
Game 2 and recorded the win. She gave up two runs on three hits with no walks
and two strikeouts in three innings, the final three of the game.
Game 1 featured a
pitching dual between CSUB's Sarah Hoag (So., Salinas, Calif., Monterey HS) and
Fullerton's Desiree Ybarra. The game went scoreless through seven innings before
going to extra innings that operated on the international tiebreaker rule which
states that each team starts their offensive inning with a runner on second
base. The Titans made the most of theirs and scored four runs in the top of the
eighth. The 'Runners refused to go down without a fight with Laura King (R-Jr.,
Camarillo, Calif., UNLV) hitting an RBI single before the Titans were able to
close out the win. Hoag finished the day with three earned runs on nine hits
and three walks with eight strikeouts in eight innings.
Combined in both games,
Veiga and King each posted four hits, two runs and one RBI, Smith had two hits,
two RBIs and one run scored, DeSilva added on hit and two RBIs and Sandoval
chipped in two hits.
The 'Runners will be
back in action at San Jose State for back-to-back doubleheaders Feb. 24-25.
~www.GoRunners.com~
