Arizona’s Pineda Slams Door Shut on Fullerton Early

Leticia Pineda hit a grand slam in the first inning and Arizona went on to beat Cal State Fullerton, 8-3, in the Kia softball tournament Thursday at Fullerton.

Cal State Fullerton (13-13) scored in the second inning when Nikki Hart hit a three-run home run.

Becky Lemke pitched five innings for Arizona to get the victory. She had nine strikeouts and gave up three hits.

Donna Coombes, who only pitched 1 1/3 innings, was the loser. Chrissy Hartman pitched the remainder of the game for Cal State Fullerton.

Arizona, ranked first in the USA Today poll, improves to 27-2.

In an earlier game, Cal State Fullerton pounded Canisius, 14-0. The Titans play Oklahoma State today.

In other tournament games:

Oklahoma 2, Fresno State 0--The No. 6 Sooners (26-7) scored two runs in the top of the seventh to give fifth-ranked Fresno State (13-3) its first shutout loss of the season and end its 11-game winning streak.

Amanda Scott (5-1) took her first loss for the Bulldogs, despite striking out a season-high 10.

Lana Moran went the distance for Oklahoma, giving up two hits and striking out five.

Earlier in the day, Fresno State opened tournament play with a 3-0 victory over No. 25 Florida State.

Center fielder Laura Berg broke the Fresno State and Western Athletic Conference career run record (190) and ranks 10th in NCAA history in career runs scored.

In Golden State Athletic Conference baseball:

Concordia 8, Azusa Pacific 5 (7)--Chad Smith had two hits, two runs scored and three RBIs as Concordia won its second straight at home. The Eagles (10-15, 5-6) are 4-11 at home this year.

Smith hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning to give Concordia a 3-2 lead. Derek Patterson followed with another home run.

Azusa Pacific (15-5-1, 10-4) has lost two consecutive conference games but remains in first place.

In the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships:

Neal advances--Stephen Neal of Cal State Fullerton defeated J.R. Plienis of Nebraska, 12-2, in 167-pound match to advance to the third round in Cleveland.

Also advancing was Oklahoma’s Shane Valdez (118 pounds), formerly of Calvary Chapel.