NCAA SOFTBALL REGIONALS : Titans Still Can’t Stop Long Beach

Add another mind-boggling chapter to the playoff lore of Cal State Fullerton softball in recent years.

For the third consecutive time, Cal State Long Beach eliminated the Titans in the NCAA Regionals by sweeping a doubleheader after losing the opening game.

The 49ers (39-30) continued their dominance of Fullerton (45-20) in the tournament with 2-1 and 4-0 victories Sunday at the Titan Sports Complex, and advanced to the College World Series, May 21-25 at Oklahoma City.

Long Beach, which lost three of four Big West Conference games to Fullerton this season, was beaten by the Titans, 3-2, in 11 innings Saturday in the first round of the double-elimination tournament. But the 49ers got the upper hand when it counted most.

“These kids did everything right today and that’s how you win big games,” Long Beach Coach Pete Manarino said.

The 49ers combined nine hits with three Fullerton errors to score four unearned runs off right-hander Tiffany Boyd (30-7), Big West pitcher of the year, to win the last game.

Amy Geldbach led off the game with a single to left. Sandra Ross hit a bouncer to Boyd, who made two errors on the play when she dropped the ball and then overthrew first base, allowing Geldbach to reach third with Ross stopping at second.

A sacrifice fly to right by Stacy Van Essen scored Geldbach and moved Ross to third. Moments later, Ross scored on a single to right by Kristyn Frady.

Long Beach added two runs in the top of the sixth inning.

With one out, Frady got her third consecutive hit of the game and moved to second on a single by Kim Kostyk. Lori Yokoyama reached first on a fielder’s choice when Titan third baseman Marci White dropped a throw from first baseman Rose Garces, loading the bases. Ivy Pinkerton flied out to left, but Lisa Wilson followed with a single to center that scored Hill, who was running for Frady, and Kostyk.

“I think we thought it was over before we even got to the plate (in the first inning),” Boyd said.

Though they beat her Saturday, Fullerton could do little on Sunday against Long Beach junior right-hander Mary Letourneau (13-12), who scattered six hits. The only trouble she encountered was in the fifth, when Boyd and Karin Knoop hit back-to-back singles with one out, but Letourneau got Shannon Dolan to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Fullerton didn’t fare much better against Van Essen in the first game. The 49er right-hander (15-11) limited Fullerton to three hits.

Van Essen was working on a one-hitter when Kim Powers reached first on an error with two outs in the top of the fifth and Garces tripled her home to give Fullerton a 1-0 lead. She then got out of a one-out, two-on situation in the sixth and retired the side in order in the seventh.

Long Beach, however, had problems in the early innings against Fullerton left-hander Cheryl Longeway (15-13), who held the 49ers to a bunt single going into the sixth. But then the Long Beach offense came alive.

Kostyk reached first on an infield hit and, after Linda Lunceford struck out, Pinkerton singled. After an error by shortstop Denise DeWalt loaded the bases, a single by Gina DiCorpo drove in Kostyk and Hill, who ran for Pinkerton.

The losses were difficult to digest for Fullerton Coach Judi Garman.

“It’s real frustrating because I think we have a very good team,” she said. “It’s very frustrating, because every year the Southern California teams have to knock each other out (of the tournament).”

In a two-team regional in 1990, Long Beach beat Fullerton, 4-0 and 2-1, after losing the opener, 3-2. Last year, also in a two-team regional, Long Beach eliminated the Titans with 2-1 and 5-1 victories in the doubleheader after being beat in the first game, 3-2.