May 5, 2008

FULLERTON, CA - Cal State Fullerton senior righthander Jessica Doucette was named the Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday afternoon following a pair of strong efforts in the circle to help the Titans keep their postseason hopes alive.

It is the first weekly pitching honor from the conference of her career as she becomes only the second upperclassman (UC Riverside's Christin Songer being the other) to win pitcher of the week laurels this season.

The Titans took two-of-three from league-leading Long Beach State, splitting a pair of one-run contests with the No. 17 49ers by the scores of 3-2 in eight innings and 2-1 on Saturday before winning the series with a 3-0 victory in Sunday's finale.

In the opener, Doucette matched Long Beach ace Brooke Turner inning for inning in regulation, allowing just one run through seven innings. However, an error in the eighth allowed a key run to come home as Doucette suffered the heartbreaking loss. She allowed just two earned on seven hits while striking out five.

Sunday afternoon saw the Titans' senior dialed in as she tossed a three-hit shutout in Fullerton's, 3-0, victory. Doucette faced just three batters over the minimum, retiring 14 consecutive batters at one point en route to the win.

The three hits were the only baserunners Long Beach State could manage on the day as Doucette finished with five strikeouts to post her team-best fifth shutout of the season.

For the weekend, Doucette held the 49ers' bats to a .182 average (including just one extra-base hit) and posted a 0.93 ERA in two starts.

Cal State Fullerton returns to Anderson Family Field for the final time in 2008 this week as the Titans host UC Santa Barbara in a three-game series. The series opens with a doubleheader on Friday (May 9) at 4 p.m. with Saturday's single-game finale starting at 12 p.m.