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California State University at Bakersfield Athletics

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CieanaCurranNE001
Nick Ellis
2
Winner Cal State Fullerton CSF 20-12, 5-1 Big West
1
CSU Bakersfield CSUB 4-18, 1-5 Big West
Winner
Cal State Fullerton CSF
20-12, 5-1 Big West
2
Final
1
CSU Bakersfield CSUB
4-18, 1-5 Big West
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Cal State Fullerton CSF 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 5 0
CSU Bakersfield CSUB 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 3

W: Myka Sutherlin (8-4) L: Castillo, Reina (1-9)

Game Recap: Softball |

`Runners Scare Titans but Fall 2-1 in Series Finale

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Battling in the final game of its first-ever Big West Conference home series, the CSU Bakersfield softball team fought to the final out against the preseason favorite Cal State Fullerton Titans. The Roadrunners led the visiting Titans until the sixth inning, but despite putting the tying run in scoring position in the seventh, CSUB fell on Sunday, 2-1.

After not leading Fullerton once in the doubleheader on Saturday, Bakersfield gained an early lead on Sunday, capitalizing on a leadoff triple by senior Cieana Curran in the bottom of the third. Curran would later score on a sacrifice fly ball from her older sister, Cydney Curran, as the `Runners took a 1-0 advantage.
 
Going toe-to-toe with the reigning Big West Pitcher of the Week in Myka Sutherlin, CSUB's Reina Castillo battled in the pitchers' duel to keep the potent Titans off the scoreboard all the way until the sixth inning. Cal State Fullerton finally broke through in the top of the sixth, plating the tying run on an RBI single from Kika Ramirez.

The Titans scored again in the top of the seventh on another RBI single, this time by Alexa Neil, going ahead of the `Runners 2-1. Bakersfield's Samantha Martinez led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk and her pinch runner, Maya Molina-Villareal, moved into scoring position after a wild pitch from Sutherlin.

Undaunted by the stumble, Sutherlin, a right-handed pitcher who struck out 20 `Runners over the course of the series, fanned the next three batters to clinch the 2-1 victory and seal the series sweep for Fullerton. With the win, Cal State Fullerton improved to 20-12 on the year and the Titans are now 5-1 in league play.

"I thought Reina Castillo came out and threw a fantastic ball game," said Bakersfield's 11th-year Head Coach, Crissy Buck-Ziegler. "They are a good hitting team, but she did a great job of challenging them every single pitch. What a great at-bat in the seventh from [Samantha Martinez] to get on base. We were right there, we had the right people up, it just didn't go our way."

Buck-Zielger added that Sunday's narrow loss is a stepping stone for her young squad: "This is program building right now. We're resurrecting our program from where it was and I'm just so proud of what they did today. That's grit and that's heart. Our team was exactly who we need to be and we're going to get that 'W' and we're going to figure it out."

The `Runners (4-18, 1-5 Big West) will continue grinding and begin preparations for another busy week ahead. Bakersfield will host Santa Clara on Thursday, Mar. 31, in a non-conference doubleheader before heading back out on the road. Next weekend, CSUB is scheduled for another Big West series, Apr. 2-3, at UC Davis.

~GoRunners.com~
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