| Cal State Fullerton 8, No. 8 Stanford 1 |
BOX SCORE | NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET
STANFORD, Calif. - 2024 Big West champion Cal State Fullerton forced a winner-take-all contest after defeating No. 8 Stanford, 8-1 in the regional round of the NCAA Championship on Sunday at Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium on the campus of the Cardinal.
Peyton Toto tied the game at one-all in the bottom of the third when the senior singled to left field to send Megan Delgadillo home.
From there, the Titans kept their feet on the gas and scored seven unanswered runs including three runs in the third and fifth innings alongside a lone run in the fourth, respectively.
Ava Arce, Delgadillo, Hanna Becerra, Bailey Wallace, and Sarah Perez all recorded an RBI in the contest while Toto registered two in the clutch performance.
In the circle, Haley Rainey and Staci Chambers split time with Rainey recording four strikeouts in five innings of work as Chambers closed the door on Stanford by sitting down two batters to close out the final two innings. It was the tenth matchup between Stanford and Cal State Fullerton in program history with the Cardinal taking nine of those matchups.
| Cal State Fullerton 2, No. 8 Stanford 4 |
BOX SCORE | NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET
Cal State Fullerton's historic 2024 campaign came to a close after suffering a tightly contested 4-2 loss versus No. 8 Stanford in the final game of the regional round of the NCAA Championship on Sunday at Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium on the campus of the Cardinal.
Alcala started the game by smashing a triple down the left field line to score the Titan's first run of the contest. Candace Yingling came in and pinch-hit for Verhorf causing an error in the field for Stanford to score Cal State Fullerton's second score of the game.
From there, the Cardinal plated four fast runs of their own to give them the advantage following the fourth inning.
Perez made a fantastic catch in foul territory colliding with the wall down the left field line to secure Cal State Fullerton's first out of the inning. Both teams traded punches defensively as Chambers held the Titans down for 3.1 innings, only allowing a lone hit while punching out two in relief of Rainey (2.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 11 BF, 1.68 ERA) and freshman Leanna Garcia (0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 5 BF, 2.60 ERA).
Stanford pitcher Nijareee Canady continued to showcase why the sophomore is one of the top pitchers in the nation, notching 13 strikeouts for the fourth time this season.
Cal State Fullerton caps its season off with a 39-19 overall record. The Titans placed 11 players on The Big West's All-Conference teams (most in the league), including The Big West Pitcher of the Year, Haley Rainey, and Co-Big West Player of the Year, Peyton Toto.
This was the 32nd time the Titans appeared in the NCAA Championship. Overall, CSF sports six women's college world series appearances in 1982-83, 1985-87, and 1995 and were crowned National Champions in 1986.