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May 19, 2006
FRESNO, Calif.- Fresno State had no idea what to expect when highly-touted freshman hurler Robin Mackin made her collegiate debut in the Bulldog's season opener against Cal State Fullerton back on Feb. 10.
Mackin suffered the loss in the Bulldog's 5-4 defeat that afternoon, giving up seven hits and walking four in six innings of work.
38 starts, 27 wins and 388 strikeouts later, Fresno State feels pretty confident anytime Mackin is in the circle. And she showed why again on Friday night.
Making her postseason debut, Mackin helped Fresno State avenge its season-opening loss with a 2-0 shutout victory over Cal State Fullerton in the opening round of NCAA Regional action. The Bulldogs (36-17) advance to Saturday's game and face the winner of Stanford/Tulsa while the Titans (36-23) stand one loss away from elimination.
Mackin, best known for her dominant outings and gaudy strikeout totals, turned in a performance that could best be described as efficient. The rookie right-hander hurled her 34th complete game, allowing four hits while striking out just one and walking two.
Fresno State manufactured the game's first run in the top of third inning, courtesy of an RBI-double by Haley Perkins. Daisy Gaynor led off the frame with a single up the middle, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on a line-drive, extra-base hit from Perkins that sailed over the head of Titan centerfielder Ariana Munoz.
The Bulldogs tacked on an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Christina Clark lined an RBI-single to center that scored Gaynor, who reached base on a one-out single. Clark and Gaynor had two hits apiece to lead the Bulldogs.
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Cal State Fullerton's best threat to score occurred in the bottom of the fourth. A double by Jenna Wheeler advanced Katie Gollhardt to third with two outs, but Crystal Vieyra grounded out to end the inning.
Mackin induced a fly-ball out from Candice Baker to end the game, which took only 1:55 to complete.