April 9, 2006

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, CA - Cal State Fullerton senior right-hander Marissa Marzan held host Cal State Northridge to just four hits for the second straight day and the Titans banged out nine hits en route to a 9-1, six-inning victory over the Matadors on Sunday afternoon at Matador Diamond.

Fullerton improved to 23-18 overall on the season, 4-2 in Big West Conference play, while Northridge fell to 12-14, 1-4.

Marzan (7-6), who held the Matadors to one run on four hits with six strikeouts in Saturday's second game, nearly duplicated the effort on Sunday, allowing one run on four hits with four "K's" in the complete-game effort.

Northridge's Selena Salazar (5-7), who held the Titans to just two hits in Saturday's game one, suffered the loss, allowing six runs on five hits with three walks in five innings of work.

The top of Fullerton's order did most of the damage as the 1-2-3 hitters combined to go 6-for-9 with six runs scored and three RBI. Junior Ashley Van Boxmeer, freshman Courtney Martinez, and sophomore Katie Gollhardt each had two hits.

The Titans took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Van Boxmeer led things off with her seventh home run of the season to center. Martinez followed with a single to left and advanced to second on a Gollhardt sacrifice. Martinez then moved to third on a wild pitch, and one batter later, came home on a fielder's choice groundout by Jenna Wheeler.

The Matadors cut the deficit in half with a run in the bottom of the first. Freshman Amanda Peek led off with a single to left and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Kelly Zakosek. One out later, Janine Grund would single up the middle to plate Peek and make it a 2-1 contest.

It would remain a one-run game until the Titans decided things with four in the fifth and three more in the sixth. In the sixth, Candice Baker led off with a walk, moved up on an Amanda Kamekona sacrifice, and scored all the way from second on a wild pitch by freshman Selena Salazar. Van Boxmeer then walked, advanced to second on another wild pitch, and scored on a triple by Martinez. Gollhardt made it 5-1 when she singled in Martinez and Gollhardt would come around to score on an RBI single by Crystal Vieyra.

Fullerton invoked the mercy rule in the sixth. Baker was hit by a pitch to start the inning and scored on Kamekona's fourth homer of the year to left. The Titans would make it 9-1 when Wheeler hit a scoring fly ball to left to plate Van Boxmeer, who reached on a single.

Cal State Fullerton returns to action next weekend with a three-game series against arch-rival Long Beach State in Fullerton. Due to the Easter holiday, the series begins a little early with a doubleheader on Friday night (Apr. 14) at 4 p.m. with a single game on Saturday (Apr. 15) at noon.

Some information courtesy Cal State Northridge Athletic Media Relations...