Softball : Fullerton Can’t Pull Off Crucial Sweep

On an afternoon when Cal State Fullerton’s softball team was trying to accomplish the unexpected--winning a Big West Conference championship--plenty of unexpected things happened.

There was a rare softball brawl in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader against Cal State Long Beach. In the second game, there were 17 innings.

But there would be no title for Fullerton, which, after being picked to finish third or lower in the conference, could have clinched a tie for first with a sweep of Long Beach.

Instead, the teams split, with Fullerton winning the first game, 2-1, and losing the second in 17 innings, also 2-1, in front of 100 fans at the Titan Softball Complex.

Fullerton (45-13), ranked third in the country, was deadlocked for the Big West Conference lead with fourth-ranked Fresno State.

But Fullerton’s two remaining Big West games are against seventh-ranked Long Beach, with Fresno State’s final two games against Pacific, the conference’s last-place team at 6-28.

The Titans missed their chance at a first-place tie in the 17th inning of the second game.

Ann Van Dortrecht, who had relieved starter Anjie Bryant in the ninth, walked Debbie Kerr to open the inning. Bryant came on, but first baseman Missy Coombes mishandled a fielder’s choice grounder, hesitating and throwing to second too late and putting runners on first and second. With one out, Bryant intentionally walked Lisa Pederson, loading the bases and bringing up Dena Turrietta, the 49ers’ leading hitter.

Turrietta lined a single to center, driving in Kerr to make a winner of Karrie Schott (9-3), who pitched all 17 innings.

In the first game, a 2-1 Fullerton victory, a rare softball brawl broke out in the fifth inning after a close play at the plate. As an argument broke out between Titan catcher Debbie Hartwig and the 49ers’ Bo Stefanik and the benches emptied, Long Beach Coach Pete Manarino and Hartwig tangled.

Manarino said he was trying to stop the fight and restrained the nearest player, who happened to be Hartwig. Garman said Manarino “shoved” Hartwing.

Fullerton won the first game on a third-inning two-run single by Bryant.