Senior Yolanda Estrada |
FULLERTON, Calif. - The Sacramento State softball team opened up its 2002 Big West Conference season by getting swept in a doubleheader by 11th-ranked Cal State Fullerton Saturday afternoon at the Titan Softball Complex.The Titans defeated the Hornets in game one, 3-1, before taking the nightcap, 8-0, in six innings.
With the victories, CSF improved to 19-9 overall and 2-0 in league play, while Sacramento State fell to 8-11 and 0-2 in the conference. Cal State Fullerton, who has now won 10-consecutive games, is now 8-0 against Sacramento State over the last three years.
In game one, Monica Lucatero went 2-for-3 and drove in two of the Titans'' three runs en route to the 3-1 victory. The Titans got on the board with a run in the first after a single by Yasman Mossadeghi was mishandled by center fielder Cathy Coupar, allowing Jenny Topping to score.
The Titans added another run in the third on a Lucatero RBI-double that scored Gina Oaks. The Hornets sliced the lead to one (2-1) after a Titan error allowed pinch runner Arlette Sunseri to score from third base. CSF added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth on Lucatero''s sixth home run of the season.
Oaks (11-2) earned the win for the Titans, allowing one unearned run and four hits while striking out three in seven innings. Junior Jillian Bivert (3-7) got the loss for the Hornets, allowing three runs (two earned) and six hits in six innings of work.
In the second game, five Titans had at least two hits as Cal State Fullerton pounded out 13 hits en route to the 8-0 victory.
Julie Watson went 3-for-3 for the Titans while Topping, Lucatero, Mossadeghi and Amanda Hockett each had two hits.
Lucatero hit her second home run of the day, a two-run blast in the sixth inning to institute the eight-run rule and end the game. Mossadeghi also hit her fourth home run of the season to lead off the fifth inning.
Bivert and freshman Erin Coyne accounted for the Hornets'' only four hits of the contest as each finished with two.
Jodie Cox (5-4) earned the victory for the Titans, scattering four hits and striking out six in six innings. Nicole Deatherage (4-1) suffered her first loss of the season, allowing six runs (three earned) and 11 hits in five innings.
The Titans and Hornets close out their three-game series tomorrow at 1 p.m.
