FULLERTON — The Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State softball teams took their Big West Conference title chase down to the regular-season finale, but Fullerton rallied to win the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader and clinched the conference championship.
Long Beach won the first game, 4-3, before the Titans bounced back to win the finale, 10-4. Fullerton (36-17 overall, 22-5 Big West) went 11-1 at home against conference opponents and won all nine of its Big West series with four sweeps. The Titans will learn which four-team NCAA regional they are headed to when the bracket and schedule for the 64-team tournament is revealed on Sunday at 4 p.m. (ESPN2).
After Long Beach (25-29, 20-7 Big West) won Saturday’s early game to set up the winner-take-all finale, the teams traded the lead several times before Fullerton pulled away.
Long Beach scored two runs in the top of the first on RBI hits from Jocylyn Vidal and Carly Robbins, but the Titans responded in the bottom of the inning when Peyton Toto ripped a two-run triple.
Long Beach regained the lead in the third inning with an RBI groundout from Sinclair Lawhorn, but Fullerton again answered when Megan Delgadillo led off with a double then came home on Kika Ramirez’s single to knot the score at 3-3. Colby McClinton added a two-run single to give the Titans the lead, then Jessi Alcala and Candace Yingling followed with RBI singles. A pair of LBSU errors led to Sarah Perez scoring to make it 8-3 heading to the fourth inning.
McClinton added another RBI in the fourth, and Perez scored on another Long Beach error for a 10-3 lead.
Fullerton pitcher Leanna Garcia, who replaced Staci Chambers in the circle in the first inning, held Long Beach to one run in her 6⅓ innings with eight strikeouts. She struck out the side in the top of the seventh to end the game.
In the early game, Fullerton got a two-run double from Ava Arce in the bottom of the first for an early lead.
After threatening for several innings, Long Beach scored all four of its runs in the fifth. Walks to Jacquelyn Bickar and Vidal gave the visitors two base runners for the fourth time in five frames, then Cassie Camou drove in one with a double down the right field line. Robbins followed with an RBI single that tied the score at 2-2. With two outs, Savannah Magadan doubled into the gap for a 4-2 lead.
Fullerton’s Delgadillo started the bottom half of the inning with a single, then walks from Ramirez and Hannah Becerra set up a fielder’s choice groundout from Yingling that cut the margin to one run. Long Beach pitcher Sophia Fernandez overcame a controversial walk that loaded the bases, and got two outs to get out of the jam.
With an opportunity to clinch the conference title in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the seventh, the Titans went down in order.
