Cal State Fullerton senior pitcher Jodie Cox tossed her second no-hitter
in week and the Titan offense banged out 14 hits on the day as No. 9 Fullerton
completed a three-game sweep of Big West Conference rival Cal State Northridge
with an 11-0 five-inning victory on Sunday afternoon at Matador Diamond.
The Titans improved to 25-12 overall and remained perfect in league play
with a 6-0 record. The Matadors fell to 16-17 overall and 2-4 in conference
play. Fullerton has won the last eight consecutive meetings with Northridge,
and clinched a sweep for the fifth time in its last five conference series.
Cox, who also no hit Utah State on March 29, improved to 11-7 overall
in throwing her seventh career no-hitter, walking just one and striking
out four. She ties Broderick Award winner Susan LeFebvre for the most
career no-hitters in a Titan uniform.
Cox also won her 15th consecutive Big West start dating back to April
21, 2001.
Kia Fennell (9-7) suffered the loss, allowing five runs (three earned)
on eight hits with a pair of walks and two strikeouts. Jenny Wheeler lasted
just 1 2/3 innings, allowing six runs on five hits, while Monique Lovell
pitched the final 2/3 innings, allowing a hit.
The Titans, who run-ruled an opponent for only the third time this season,
got things going right off the bat, scoring a single run in the first
two innings on an RBI single by Krista O'Hanian and an RBI double by sophomore
Jody Campbell for the 2-0 lead.
Cal State Fullerton added two more runs in the third inning, scoring on
an error by the Northridge catcher and on a two-out wild pitch.
After going scoreless in the fourth, the Titans broke open the floodgates
in the fifth, sending 12 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs.
Senior Gina Oaks, who led off the inning with an infield single, came
around to score two batters later on an error by the Matador shortstop
to make it 5-0. Krista O'Hanian followed with a run-scoring single after
her two-run double was appealled and deemed a foul ball.
Senior Amy LaRocque, junior Jennifer Holt and sophomore Heather Saltarelli
followed with run-scoring hits to make it 10-0. Senior Kristy Halagarda,
the 11th batter in the inning, capped the scoring with an RBI groundout
to make it 11-0.
Cox held the Matador bats silent for the entire afternoon, stranding five
runners on base, including runners on first and second in the first and
fourth innings. She set down 11 consecutive batters at one point.
Cal State Fullerton returns to action on Saturday (April 12), opening
a three-game series against Big West rival Pacific with a doubleheader
at the Titan Softball Complex beginning at 1 p.m. The final game of the
series will be played on Sunday (April 13) with first-pitch scheduled
for 1 p.m.
