Feb. 27, 2008

Box Score

FULLERTON, CA - Cal State Fullerton senior Katie Gollhardt homered twice and drove in three and the host Titans had to hold off a late rally by St. John's to escape with a 5-4 victory over the Red Storm on Wednesday night at Anderson Family Field.

Fullerton won its second straight game in improving to 7-6-1 overall while St. John's fell to 2-10 overall.

The Titans were cruising through six innings, jumping out to the quick advantage on Gollhardt's second home run of the year - a two run shot that scored Courtney Martinez ahead of her - for the 2-0 lead.

Fullerton pushed across thre more in the sixth as Gollhardt slugged her second long-ball to lead off the inning and was followed three batters later by sophomore Sheila Holguin, who tripled to the gap in right centerfield to bring home Lauren Lupinetti for the 4-0 advantage.

Holguin would eventually score on a wild pitch to make it 5-0, but that's when things began to unravel for the Titans as the Red Storm made their comeback.

Danielle Estrada led off with a walk and moved to second on a ground out. Shauntaine Harris then broke up the shutout with a sharp double to the right centerfield gap, cutting the deficit to 5-1.

Bionka King kept the rally going by singling through the left side and drew a throw when she tried to advance to second after the ball from the outfield came to the plate. The throw down sailed into centerfield, allowing Harris to score and moving King all the way to third.

After a strikeout for the second out, Kacee Cox took a 1-0 offering deep over the fence to centerfield, scoring King ahead of her to make it a one-run game at 5-4.

However, Fullerton starter Christine Hiner (4-2) escaped any further damage, inducing Alyson Funn to ground out to second base to end the game.

Hiner allowed four runs on seven hits, walking four and striking out seven in the complete-game effort. Kat Lawrence (2-3) suffered the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out eight in seven innings.

Gollhardt and Holguin both finished with a pair of hits for the Titans while senior Jessica Doucette extended her team-best hitting streak to seven consecutive games with a single in the fifth inning.

Harris had a pair of hits to lead St. John's, finishing 2-for-3 on the night.

Cal State Fullerton returns to the field this weekend as the Titans welcome 11 other teams to Anderson Family Field for the 2008 Worth Invitational. Play begins on Friday (Feb. 29) at 9 a.m. and runs throughout the weekend on both fields at the Fullerton campus.