FULLERTON, Calif. – The Cal softball team picked up a pair of wins against Cal State Fullerton and San Diego on Saturday at Anderson Family Field, improving to 4-0 on the season.

The Bears made it 25 total runs scored in just 11 innings against the Toreros over the course of two days and got a clutch home run off the bat of Sophie Medellin to secure the first game over the host Titans.   

Game 1 – Cal 4, Cal State Fullerton 3  
Cal faced its first deficit of the season after the Titans scored a run on two hits and an error in the first. With the bats quiet through two, Kennedy Thomas recorded the Bears' first hit of the day but was stranded at second after stealing a base to get in scoring position.

CSUF looked to add to its lead in the home half with runners at second and third and nobody out, but starter Annabel Teperson escaped the jam with two pop ups and a runner caught between home and third on a failed squeeze attempt.

Still trailing 1-0 in the sixth, Cal rallied with two down. Kacey Zobac legged out an infield single and a double steal put runners at second and third for the pinch hitter, Medellin. She changed the game with a 3-run home run way over the fence in left for a 3-1 Golden Bear lead.

Looking for insurance in the seventh, Cal was able to cash in. After Makena Smith reached on an error and Tatum Anzaldo singled, Zobac got the job done with a sacrifice fly to plate pinch-runner Mika Lee.

The Titans scored two runs on a hit and two Cal errors in the home half, but Haylei Archer stranded two CSUF runners to end the game and earn a save. Teperson got her first win of the year after going 5.1 innings while allowing just one earned run on six hits.  

Game 2 – Cal 14, San Diego 6 (6)
The Bears faced an early deficit for the second time in as many games after USD scored two runs on three hits and an error in the opening frame, but it didn't last long as Cal answered quickly in the home half.

Smith hit her first home run of the season to left and freshman Tianna Bell went opposite field to right center for a 2-run shot, her second home run of the weekend against the Toreros to give Cal a 3-2 lead.

Cal poured it on USD from there, making it 7-4 after two complete thanks to an inside-the-park home run off the bat of Thomas and a 3-run bomb from Bell, a towering shot over the scoreboard in left field.

The Bears made it 11-4 through three frames behind Acacia Anders and Anzaldo, who both recorded stand up RBI triples.

USD showed some fight, however, getting two runs back in the fourth on a double, but Cal had an answer again. Thomas doubled to begin the home half and came around on a Zobac RBI single before Diamond Holland beat the throw home on a double steal to make it 13-6 after five complete.

Samantha Rocha made her Cal debut in the circle in the top half, throwing a clean frame, and the Bears earned their second run-rule victory over the Toreros in as many days, closing it out on the third Thomas extra base hit of the night.

UP NEXT
Cal finishes opening weekend in Fullerton on Sunday, Feb. 12 with a 9 am first pitch against Utah State and an 11:30 am start vs. the home Titans.

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