Vincent Ta/HIGHLANDER
Vincent Ta/HIGHLANDER

April 12, 2014

Highlanders 6 – Titans 3

A beautiful sunny day and a win for UCR at Cal State Fullerton kicked off the first of a three-game weekend series. The Highlanders defeated the third-place Titans, 6-3.

UCR’s starting pitcher Alyssa Razo performed well as she recorded five strikeouts, one walk and three earned runs. Cal State Fullerton’s pitchers on the other hand tallied three strikeouts, seven walks, and three earned runs amongst their three pitchers.

UCR shot out of the dugout in the first inning, scoring three runs, starting with a double from Karina Romero. Ashley Ercolano then singled down the left-field line, sending Romero to third. Haley Harris’ bunt brought Romero home and advanced Ercolano to second. Stephanie Tickemyer then hit a single to right field sending Harris to second, and Ercolano to third. Two more runs were scored after Kaylie Atkinson singled down left field, extending the Highlanders’ lead to 3-0.

The Titans responded in the bottom of the first with a double from Missy Taukeiaho and a single from Melissa Sechrest. Gabby Aragon’s sacrifice fly brought Taukeiaho home, but Razo closed the inning with a strikeout with a runner on first. The score was now 3-1.

From the bottom of the second to the bottom of the third, stellar pitching and fielding brought three consecutive three-and-outs for the Highlanders.

In the top of the fourth, a wild play from UCR’s Nicolette Lujan’s bunt caused a frenzy at home plate with the Titans’ third baseman diving for the ball, causing it to roll into foul territory, which allowed Shylene Helms to reach third and Lujan to reach second. With two on base and one out, the Titans got out of the inning with a double play off of a bunt and tag-out at third.

In the bottom of the fourth, a deep home run from Aragon racked another score for the Titans, closing the gap to one run. By the end of the fourth inning, UCR had four strikeouts while Fullerton had none.

In the sixth inning, the Titans gave up three runs from three walks and a wild pitch. Fullerton would score two more runs but would not be enough for the win.

April 12, 2014

Titans 4 – Highlanders 2

The second part of the doubleheader between the Highlanders and the Titans started while there was still light out. Despite their win in the first meeting earlier on Saturday, the Highlander softball team fell to Cal State Fullerton 4-2.

The game started off with a scare when first baseman Kaylie Atkinson and Melissa Sechrest collided as Sechrest ran through first base. Anxious coaches, teammates and fans watched on but Atkinson managed to walk off the field with a foot injury.

As the first couple of innings slowly went on, no runs were scored. It wasn’t until the bottom of the fourth that points were recorded. Ariel Tsuchiyama hit a double to left-center, and then Melissa Sechrest’s sacrifice bunt allowed pinch runner Jena Rubio to advance to third. Gabby Aragon walked off a hit by a pitch, then allowed Rubio to steal home after she created a diversion by stealing second. Lauren Mario’s double into left-center allowed Aragon to score from first. Carissa Turang then singled to shortstop allowing Mario to reach third. Paige Kisling was struck out looking on the full-count pitch to close the inning, bringing the score to 2-0.

Riverside responded at the top of the sixth with a single from Dionne Anderson into right field, which was followed by a steal to second. After this, Ashley Ercolano walked, followed by a Titan throwing error, allowing Ercolano to reach third and Anderson to score. Natalie Sanchez then doubled down the left-field line, bringing Ercolano home. The game was now tied up, 2-2.

Immediately after this hopeful inning from the Highlanders, Cal State Fullerton scored two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Two walks plus a sacrifice bunt set the Titans up to score. With the bases loaded, Tsuchiyama singled to right field, bringing Turang home. However, a good throw and tag-out at home plate ended the inning.

The softball team had one more chance to score in the top of the seventh, but two ground-outs, followed by a single and another ground-out ended the game, giving the Titans the win, 4-2.