Titans beat No. 3 Florida at Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic

After competing against multiple ranked opponents, Cal State Fullerton softball won three out of five games at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City over the weekend. 

On Saturday, the Titans won both their games, upsetting No. 3 ranked University of Florida, 5-4 in extra innings after infielder Hannah Becerra hit a walk-off 2-run home run in the eighth inning to earn the victory for the Titans. Earlier in the day, CSUF had shut out Oregon State, 4-0, after the game was delayed for over an hour.

The Titans split their games on Friday, beating No. 24 Oregon, 5-0, before losing to No. 2 Oklahoma, 8-0, via a run-rule, ending in five innings. The Titans’ loss against the Sooners came as no surprise, as the defending champs torched the competition going undefeated in the tournament.

To begin the tournament, CSUF lost against San Diego State, 6-5, in extra innings for their only game on Thursday. 

Becerra leads the team in RBIs with 13,  batting in seven runs over the weekend including four against Florida. 

Outfielder Megan Delgadillo continues to lead the team in total hits, recording six over the weekend including batting 3-for-3 against No. 24 Oregon on Friday. 

Every team the Titans faced batted under their season batting average, which is a testament to the pitching staff and their strong performance.

Pitcher Myka Sutherlin appeared in three games, two of which were starts where she recorded the win. She pitched two full-game shutouts, one against Oregon while striking out five batters and the other against Oregon State where she striked out six. 

After picking up a loss against Oklahoma due to giving up five runs in her first and only inning, pitcher Raci Miranda redeemed herself against Florida, earning the win. Miranda pitched the final 2.1 innings of the extra-innings victory and only gave up two hits.

Pitcher Haley Rainey recorded one loss against San Diego State after giving up three runs in 5.1 innings pitched. She also struck out nine batters in her start against Florida as well as giving up eight hits. 

The pitching staff continues to lead the Big West conference with an overall ERA of 1.51, with Rainey being second individually with a 0.98 ERA and Sutherlin being third with a 1.00 ERA. 

This weekend, the Titans proved that they could compete at the highest level with their wins against ranked opponents. The Judi Garman Classic next weekend will provide another opportunity to solidify that as CSUF prepares to host No. 1 UCLA and No. 25 Central Florida. 

The Titans will return Thursday to play Michigan at the Anderson Family Field. The first pitch is set for 5:30 p.m.