Baker Hits, Pitches Cal State Fullerton Past Hokies, 1-0 – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/19/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 19, 2007
Box Score
Columbus, OH – Senior Candice Baker hit a home run and pitched a 4-hit shutout Saturday evening to give Cal State Fullerton a 1-0 victory over Virginia Tech in an elimination game at the NCAA Softball reional at Ohio State.
Baker (19-12) led off the top of the sixth inning with the Titans’ first hit of the game off loser Angela Tincher (38-7) and that was enough offense. The long drive carried well over the left-field fence.
Baker walked only one and struck out two and pitched out of two jams. The Hokies (49-16) had runners on second and third with two out in the second inning but a fly ball ended that threat. Two infield singles to lead off the bottom of the sixth set the table but Baker responded with three consecutive pop up outs. A double play wiped out a leadoff runner in the third.
NCAA Softball, Ohio State Regional
Postgame Quotes – Cal State Fullerton 1, Virginia Tech 0
Michelle Gromacki, Cal State Fullerton head coach
On the game
“Virginia Tech has been a great team all year. They have one of the top pitchers in the country. I knew this would be a one run or 2-1 run ball game.”
On Angela Tincher, Virginia Tech junior pitcher
“We’ve never seen her pitch before, but we knew a lot because of her statistics. It was exciting coming into this game because she is a great pitcher. She has a good rise ball, but she was changing her game-plan as the game progressed and she put up a good game.”
On playing Ohio State
“We have to beat Ohio State twice and they’re a tough team, but we never felt that pressure from losing our first game against them. Our motto for this year is `pleasure is greater than pressure.’ We’ll keep going with the flow and not worry about what the results are going to be.”
Candice Baker, Cal-State Fullerton senior pitcher
On her home run
“It felt good. I wasn’t expecting it. I was just hoping to make contact and get a base hit.”
On pitching
“I was focused on hitting my spots and trusting my defense. I wasn’t expecting a lot of strikeouts, but I was expecting ground balls and pop flies. It doesn’t matter how my arm feels right now. I just want to keep going and win that plaque.”
Angela Tincher, Virginia Tech junior pitcher
On giving up the game-winning home run
“It was a rise ball that looked pretty good to me. She (Candice Baker) was probably expecting it and just put solid contact on the ball.”
On losing despite outhitting Cal State Fullerton
“They capitalized on the opportunities we presented them. It was frustrating because we knew what we had to do, but we just couldn’t do it.”
Caroline Stolle, Virginia Tech junior outfielder
On not capitalizing in the sixth inning
“It really did feel like it was our inning to do some damage. This season we have waited until late in the games to put up runs so we were almost expecting to do something. Unfortunately, we couldn’t capitalize on that situation.”
On missing the regional final for a third-consecutive season
“I pictured this team in Arizona. Right now, I can’t believe the season is over because we all thought we were going to get there this year.”
Scot Thomas, Virginia Tech head coach
On bunting with two runners on and no outs in the sixth
“We thought if we moved the runners up a base we could move some runs over the plate. I liked our chances to execute but unfortunately we couldn’t get it done.”
On Candice Baker, Cal State Fullerton pitcher
“She had great velocity early on. We were a little behind on the pitches but we were able to see the ball, just not make any good contact.”
Postgame Quotes – Fullerton 8, Canisius 0
Mike Rappl, Canisius head coach
On the season
“I’m really proud of these kids. They came back after being down in the conference. They made their mark in school history. We’re just a small school and there were over 260 schools that wanted to be here and didn’t get in. I just hope they realize what they’ve done. They will a few years from now.”
On the game
“I’m frustrated with the way we played today, but I can’t take anything away from Fullerton. They really battled and we just couldn’t get strikes down. [Candice] Baker played a great game.”
Katie Miranto, Canisius junior shortstop
On the game and season
“It didn’t come down to what we wanted. I’m proud of our season, but obviously it’s not the way we wanted to end. I’m just happy to get this experience and get here.”
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