STANFORD — The Cal State Fullerton softball team never could get the timely hit it needed and lost to Mississippi State, 1-0, in its opener at the NCAA Stanford Regional on Friday.
The Titans, who left eight runners on base, will face Saint Mary’s in an elimination game on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. If Fullerton wins that game, it will play again at 7 p.m. against the loser of the afternoon game between Stanford and Mississippi State.
Fullerton pitcher Haley Rainey silenced the Bulldogs in the early innings, giving up her first hit in the fourth on a leadoff single to center field. A two-out double to right field got past Kate Verhoef to give Mississippi State the only run it would need.
Before this lead, Rainey was backed by a solid defense. Bailey Wallace made a diving grab in foul territory to start the bottom of the first. In the second, the Big West Conference champions caught the Bulldogs in a rundown and turned it into a double play.
The Titans finished with six hits, highlighted by a double to left-center by Wallace in the top of the third. Mississippi State had just the two fourth-inning hits.
This was Fullerton’s second loss to the Bulldogs this season, as the two squads first met on Feb. 24 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
Cal State Fullerton pitcher Haley Rainey throws to the plate during their NCAA regional opener against Mississippi State on Friday at Stanford. Rainey held the Bulldogs to one run and two hits in six innings, but the Titans lost, 1-0. (AP Photo/Lachlan Cunningham)
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