Titans' Season Ends With 1-0 Loss to California May 19, 2002 – Fresno, Calif.
Box Score
The third-seeded California softball team got an RBI single in the third
inning and pitcher Jocelyn Forest made it stand up as the Golden Bears
advanced to the Women's College World Series with a 1-0 victory over top-seeded
Cal State Fullerton in the championship game of the 2002 NCAA Regionals
on Sunday afternoon at Bulldog Diamond in Fresno, Calif.
Cal State Fullerton ends its storied 2002 season with a 53-12 overall
record, its 19th NCAA postseason appearance and its third consecutive
Big West title. California won its second game of the regional against
the Titans, improving to 52-19 overall as the Golden Bears advance to
the Women's College World Series for the fourth consecutive season.
The Golden Bears got on the board in the third inning, loading the bases
with no outs, thanks to a pair of walks and a fielder's choice. Cal put
a run on the board, scoring on a hard-hit ball to the shortstop by Veronica
Nelson, scoring Kristen Bayless for the 1-0 lead. However, Oaks induced
Courtney Scott to ground into an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play to kill
any further threats.
That would be all Jocelyn Forest (25-12) would need for the Golden Bears,
beating the Titans for the second time this weekend, as she retired the
final 12 consecutive batters. Gina Oaks (22-4) pitched a gem of a game
herself in her second start in 24 hours for Cal State Fullerton, going
the distance and scattering one run on just three hits.
The Titans certainly had their chances, leaving six runners on base through
the first three innings, including the bases loaded in the first and runners
on first and second in the third.
Cal State Fullerton placed four players on the All-Regional team: Yasmin
Mossadeghi, Jenny Topping, Jodie Cox and Gina Oaks. Cal pitcher Jocelyn
Forest, who won all four games for the Golden Bears in the regional, earned
regional Most Outstanding Player honors.
All-Regional Team
Yasmin Mossadeghi (CS Fullerton)
Veronica Nelson (California)
Kira Ching (Stanford)
Robin Walker (Stanford)
Candace Harper (California)
Boni Kading (Pacific)
Jamie Southern (Fresno State)
Vanessa Czarnecki (Fresno State)
Jenny Topping (CS Fullerton)
Jodie Cox (CS Fullerton)
Gina Oaks (CS Fullerton)
Jocelyn Forest (California) -- Most Outstanding Player
Post Game Quotes Head Coach Michelle Gromacki "This is the hardest part, coming to a regional with such great
teams. You work so hard all year, you don't know what the results will
be. These girls don't train to win, they train to play to win. The result
isn't always going to go your way and we trained hard. California is a
hell of a ballclub. I'm proud to have played so well throughout the tournament,
I'm proud to have reached the championship game and I'm proud of how our
team played."
(On the close play at second on the fielder's choice in the third inning)
"It would have been a close play. You how quick the runner is and
you know how quick to get to the ball, but you don't know what is going
to happen ahead of time. We had a shot at getting her and it was just
a judgement play. That was their break."
Junior outfielder Jodie Cox (On the ball hit to the fence in the third inning) "I thought
it was gone. I think in this game, all of us had great at-bats. All of
us gave 120 percent, every at-bat, every pitch. We did all we could. There
were a lot of hits that could have fallen in, but things just didn't happen
our way."
Junior pitcher Gina Oaks "I think that both teams knew that it was going to be a battle.
It just happened to be that they got on top and we couldn't get a run
across, even though we had great at-bats."
