Cal State ? Fullerton Outlasts Softball

Thursday, February 19

Cathedral City, Calif.

8:30 PM

NC State

2-3

Cal State Fullerton

4-3

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
NC State	0	0	2	3	1	0	0	6	4	4
Cal-Fullerton	2	0	0	0	3	1	3	9	13	2

2/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif.  One out away from getting pushed into extra innings, Cal State Fullerton’s Trina Harrison hit a three-run walk off home run to down NC State, 9-6, in a topsy-turvy battle at the Cathedral City Classic on Thursday, Feb. 19.

Kristine Bechtholdt went 1-for-3 with three RBIs to lead the Wolfpack offense, while Eliza Jacobellis punched her first career home run. Lindsay Campana fell to 1-2 with the loss, while Ari Cervantes (1-1) picked up the win.

The Titans got two runs in the bottom of the first, one courtesy of a Torrie Anderson RBI single and the other via a wild pitch.

A timely piece of hitting by Bechtholdt in the top of the third knotted the score at 2-all. Katie Mansilla walked and stole second, then moved to third on a Bridget Desbois grounder. Claudia Cooper then drew a walk, and Krystal Hawkins came on to run in her place. Hawkins immediately swiped second before Bechtholdt laced a clutch two-out single up the middle, bringing Mansilla and Hawkins both around.

State busted the game wide open in the top of the fourth, picking up three runs on just one hit. Jacobellis reached on an error and Lauren Peters followed with a walk. A pitch then hit Ishibashi for the second time in the game, loading the bases. Alyssa Allbritten followed with a walk to bring in a run, and a Desbois single to right made it 4-2 Wolfpack. Another free pass with the bases loaded, this time to Bechtholdt, pushed the lead to 5-2.

Jacobellis made it 6-2 in a hurry, belting her first career home run to right center in the top of the fifth.

Cal State Fullerton countered with three runs, two unearned, in the bottom of the fifth. Shelia Holguin nailed a leadoff double to left, later scoring when Francesca Gonzales singled through the left side. A two-out error at short, however, led to two runners reaching base that would both score when K.C. Craddick singled down the left field line.

Errors plagued the Pack again and allowed the Titans to tie the score at 6-6 in the bottom of the sixth. Holguin singled to center and advanced on a groundout before moving to third on a Gonzales base hit into left. But Gonzales’ knock was misplayed, allowing Holguin to score unearned.

Everything came to an end in the bottom of the seventh when Harrison ended the game with one swing, crushing a three-run home run to hand the Titans a 9-6 victory.

State moves to 2-3 with the loss, while CSF climbs to 4-3.

NC State will take on No. 15 UMass (1 p.m. EST) and No. 9 Cal (4 p.m. EST) tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 20.