Warriors Edge No. 1 Fullerton for Third Straight Win

TORRANCE, Calif. --- No. 11 El Camino College defeated No. 1 Fullerton, 2-1, on Saturday afternoon in a non-conference matchup at the ECC Softball Field.

The Warriors (25-11) picked up their third straight victory and have won 10 of their last 11 games. They also defeated the Hornets (32-4) in both meetings this season.

Malia Martin went 2-for-3 with a double and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning while Madilyn Radeke picked up her 13th win of the season in the circle, going all seven innings and scattering six singles while allowing one unearned run against the No. 1 team in the state.

In two outings against the Hornets this season, Radeke logged two complete-game victories and allowed just one earned run in 14 innings.

For the Hornets, Macy Brandl went the distance in the circle and allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits with one strikeout. Jordan Elias went 1-for-3 and drove in the team's only run. The Hornets have now lost four games all season with two of those coming against the Warriors.

Saturday's win was also the Warriors' third straight and 25th of the year. In Jessica Rapoza's nine seasons as head coach, the Warriors have won 25 or more games in every completed season except 2021. There was no season in 2021 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and the 2020 season was cancelled after 20 games due to the pandemic.

Saturday's game was scoreless until the bottom of the third inning when Emma Garcia laid down a two-out bunt single along the third-base line and then Cheyenne Navarro was hit by a pitch to put two runners on.

Martin stepped in and hit a groundball to short where Cassidy Hornung fielded it and decided to attempt to step on the bag at second to get the third out but she was ruled to have missed the bag on the transfer. Amidst confusion on the field, Garcia ran all the way around to score and put ECC up 1-0 on the error.

The Hornets answered in the fifth inning with a two-out single from Elias to plate Milene Mendoza from third base to tie things up.

But Martin led off the bottom of the sixth with a double to right-center to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Cerise Cervantes hit a deep fly ball to left, allowing Martin to tag up and take third on the play and then Emily Esparza hit a laser to the gap in right-center with outfielder Alyssa Garcia making an outstanding catch to rob Esparza of extra bases. But the flyout was enough to score Martin easily to make it 2-1 and then Radeke retired the side in order in the seventh to score the victory.

The Warriors will be back in action on Monday afternoon for their fourth of seven games in the span of eight days to conclude the season. They will host Citrus for a 2:30 p.m. first pitch.