Titans Defeat Canisius to Open Softball Tournament

The Titans opened the first day of the Kia Klassic Invitational softball tournament with a 14-0 pool-play victory over Canisius Wednesday at Cal State Fullerton.

The game was called after five innings due to an eight-run mercy rule.

The Titans (13-12) took a 4-0 lead in the top of the first and added four more in the second and six in the third to put the game away.

Left fielder Wendi Griffin was three for three with three runs batted in and one run scored for the Titans. Catcher Dara Marzola had two hits, three RBIs and a run scored and shortstop Christa Saindon had three RBIs and three runs scored for the Titans.

Jana Oetgen (4-5) went the distance, striking out eight and giving up six hits for the Titans.

Cal State Fullerton will play top-ranked Arizona tonight at 5:45 p.m. Canisius falls to 2-8.

In other pool-play games, Cal State Northridge defeated Georgia State, 9-0, in a six inning mercy-rule shortened game.

Tara Glaister pitched a one-hitter, striking out 13 of the 22 batters she faced and walking three. First baseman Chelo Lopes was four for four for Northridge (14-9-1) with three RBIs.

In the final game of the day, San Diego State defeated Eastern Michigan 10-6. The Aztecs took a 9-0 lead in the top of the fifth.

In nonconference baseball:

Concordia 23, Dordt 9--Concordia set a school record in runs scored in a game.

Brandon Reimer hit two home runs to lead the Concordia, which had 21 hits. Reimer drove in five runs and scored five times and Derek Patterson was five for six, breaking the school’s single game record for hits.

Michael Haens picked up his second win of the year to halt a five-game losing streak for the Eagles. Ryan Rietkirk was tagged for seven runs and nine hits in only two and two-thirds innings of work as he picked up the loss.

UC Riverside 10, Southern California College 6--Dominick Lombardi had two hits and three RBIs as UC Riverside gave Coach Jack Smitheran his 900th victory.

In 25 seasons, Smitheran is 777-567-3 at UC Riverside (900-628-3 overall) and ranks third on the Division II active coaching list. Smitheran ranks fifth on the all-time list.

Kevin Perkins had three hits and two runs scored for UC Riverside (8-13).

Kevin Moore had two doubles and a triple for the Vanguards (14-10). Kevin Doyle had two hits and three runs scored for SCC.