Feb. 17, 2008

Box Score - Game 1 | Box Score - Game 2

AUSTIN, TX - Host Texas and the clock conspired to keep the Cal State Fullerton softball team from victory on Sunday afternoon as the No. 24 Longhorns defeated the No. 17 Titans, 1-0, in the first game before the two teams battled to a 4-4 tie in the nightcap of an impromptu doubleheader in Austin, Texas.

Fullerton fell to 4-3-1 overall on the year as the Titans played to their first tie since 1991 en route to a 52-16-1 overall record. Texas improved to 5-2-1 with the win and draw.

Senior Jenna Wheeler led the team at the plate, going 3-for-6 with a pair of runs scored while freshman Torrie Anderson, junior Lauren Lupinetti, and senior Jessica Doucette each added a pair of hits, including a three-RBI day by Doucette.

Cal State Fullerton returns to action next weekend as the Titans compete at the Palm Springs Classic at the Big League Dreams Sports Park in Cathedral City, Calif.

GAME 1: #24 TEXAS 1, #17 CAL STATE FULLERTON 0
MicKayla Padilla's RBI single scored Kacie Gaskin with the game-winning run and right-hander Meagan Denny struck out 11 on the afternoon as No. 24 Texas defeated No. 17 Cal State Fullerton, 1-0.

Denny (5-0) held the Titans to just three hits on the day, two of those by junior Lauren Lupinetti, and stranded six on base, including three in scoring position and the bases loaded in the third inning.

Senior Jessica Doucette (1-3) suffered the loss for the Titans, allowing only the single run on a close play at the plate on three hits and striking out a season-high nine batters in the complete-game effort.

After a walk and a fielder's choice, Gaskin stole second to move into scoring position for Brittany Chalk, who struck out swinging for the second out. That brought up Padilla, who blooped a ball into short right field. The throw from the outfield beat Gaskin to the plate, but she slid around the tag of Lupinetti for the only run of the game.

Denny then retired six of the final seven batters she faced - four of those via the strikeout - allowing only a single down the line in left to Lupinetti in the sixth.

GAME 2: #17 CAL STATE FULLERTON 4, #24 TEXAS 4
Jessica Doucette's RBI double with two outs in the seventh scored Jenna Wheeler with the game-tying run to forge the Titans' first tie game in 17 years as Fullerton battled back from an early 3-0 first-inning deficit to tie No. 24 Texas, 4-4, in the final game of the Time Warner Cable Texas Invitational.

The Longhorns took the early lead off starter Christine Hiner as back-to-back singled by Kacie Gaskin and Loryn Johnson set the table for Amy Hooks, whose RBI fielder's choice made it 1-0. Texas made it 2-0 on a throwing error on a ground ball by Brittany Chalk and added another on an RBI groundout by Crystal Saenz for the 3-0 lead.

Fullerton got a run back in the third as freshman Torrie Anderson took the first pitch she saw from Texas starter Brittany Barnhill over the fence in the left field for her first career home run to cut the deficit to 3-1. The Titans continued the comeback with two runs in the fifth as Wheeler led off with an infield single and moved to third on a double off the top of the wall in left to put a pair in scoring position.

After a strikeout by Barnhill for the second out, Doucette tied the game on one swing, taking the first pitch she saw to the gap in left center, scoring Wheeler and Anderson to tie the game at 3-3.

The Longhorns regained the lead in their half of the fifth as pinch hitter Brittany Reliford led off the inning with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice, and scored on an RBI single by Gaskin to make it 4-3. Hiner and the Titans escaped any further damage, stranding runners on the corners thanks to a fly out and a ground ball to end the inning.

Both teams went quietly in the sixth before Doucette's two-out heroics in the seventh tied the game.

Doucette finished 2-for-4 with the three RBI while Wheeler and Anderson also finished with a pair of hits and two runs scored each, setting the table from the Nos. 7 and 8 spots in the lineup.

Hiner allowed three earned runs on eight hits in seven innings of work, striking out three without a walk. Barnhill allowed four runs on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings with Erin Tresselt pitched the final 1/3 of an inning for the Longhorns.

Gaskin finished 3-for-4 to lead the Texas offense.