Cypress Grinds Out a Win over Fullerton

McGrath stole 3 bases Friday afternoon.

The Chargers stretch their first place lead to five games.

April 4, 2008

Final Stats

Cypress, Calif. - The Chargers hosted rival Fullerton Friday in a battle between the number one and two teams in the Orange Empire Conference. The eighth ranked Hornets put up a fight but the Chargers paced themselves to a win 4-1. Sophomore right fielder Caitlin McGrath led Cypress going three for three with three steals and two runs scored.

Cypress found themselves in a rare position behind a run to Fullerton after giving up a hit and an error in the first. The Chargers got the run right back on their turn. McGrath beat out the throw on a bunt single and stole second. She hit third on a wild pitch and sophomore third baseman Sarah Strong brought her home with a single to left.

The Chargers squeezed out another in the second. Freshman designated player Kayla Van Dieren beat out the throw on an infield single and moved to second after a ground out. Freshman left fielder Vanessa Gonzales hit into an error allowing Van Dieren to round third and score for the narrow 2-1 lead.

Sophomore first baseman Nicole Palmer generated two outs in the top of the third with diving catches on two shallow pop up fouls to strand two Hornet runners on. The offense took over from there. McGrath led the bottom of the third off with an infield single and freshman center fielder Amanda Fama followed by being hit by a pitch. Strong bunted both over and Palmer singled to left to score McGrath moving Fama to third. Van Dieren added a second run with a sacrifice fly to center for Fama to tag up and score for the 4-1 lead.

The Hornets would not retreat leading off the fourth with a single and double before freshman pitcher Alyssa Freight retired three straight to strand both runners. Freight clamped down from there retiring twelve straight batters to earn her 21st win. Freight allowed one earned run on five hits while striking out six.

Cypress improves to 36-0 and 15-0 in conference. They go straight into two Saturday games starting with Palomar and ending with Mt. Sac. Cypress defeated both in five innings already this year. Cypress starts with Palomar at 11:00 am at Cypress.