Fullerton was looking to snap a four-game losing streak. The Hornets tried to get their offense back on track after 15 scoreless innings. That included being shut out by Golden West on Tuesday, 5-0 in the opening series. Game two was a different story, as there was a lot of drama in the late innings in Fullerton’s 7-6 win over Golden West on April 17.

In the sixth inning, with Fullerton leading 6-3, the Rustlers were able to come back and score three runs to tie the game. The rally started with a Candice DeMayo single that went over a leaping Fullerton third baseman Jianna Lopez into left field. Then Abbie Rainwater put down a sacrifice bunt toward third base. Lopez made a high throw to Veronica Moore at first base. Moore was able to jump up and catch the ball, while getting her foot back down on the bag in time for the out. DeMayo moved up to second on the play.

That was followed by a Reggie Frei sacrifice bunt to Lopez. Lopez did not get bailed out a second time, as her throw sailed wide of first base and went to the backstop. That allowed Golden West’s DeMayo to score on the play, while Frei moved up to second base.

Lola Weber came up and hit one into center field, in which Fullerton’s Milene Mendoza went out on a full dive. Mendoza had the ball in her glove, but it popped out, as her mitt hit the ground and landed in for a base hit.

The Rustlers Frei stayed on second during the play. Co-Head Coach Marian Mendoza came out to argue with the umpire believing that Milene Mendoza caught the ball and secured it. The umpire let Coach Mendoza know that the catch wasn’t fully secured.

Allyssa DeMayo came up to the plate. Fullerton pitcher Grace Workman threw an outside pitch to DeMayo, who blooped a single to shallow left field, landing in between shortstop Linsey Arostigue and left fielder Juliana Ursino.

Ursino had an opportunity to get the force out at third, as the Rustler runners had to freeze on the play to see whether the ball would fall in. Fullerton third baseman Lopez was unable to secure the ball in her glove.

The bases were loaded with one out, and the whole team came together in the circle to settle each other down. Workman was able to execute a high outside pitch to Golden West’s Desyree Arizmendi, who fouled out to catcher Avery Wiersma for the second out. Co-Head Coach Crystal Aguirre came out for a mound visit, talking about the strategy for the next batter.

The Rustlers Isabella Santiago, on a 1-1 count, took advantage of a mistake pitch out and over the plate and roped it into center field for a two-run RBI single to tie the game at 6-6. Workman got out of the inning with a line-out to Zoey Bautista at second. Aguirre stayed with Workman after the sixth inning, as she retired the last six batters to get the win.

“Workman is battling a little bit of a knee injury. Workman said yesterday, I need to be tougher for my team. She started realizing that not one of her teammates was walking around not hurt. Workman said I can do this and she came out and she was phenomenal,” said Aguirre.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Jonathan De La Paz

Golden West College's Reggi Frei makes it to third base before the ball reaches Fullerton College's Jianna Lopez.

The Hornets will travel to Golden West on Friday in the series finale.

In the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs, Aguirre decided to bring in pinch-hitter Bryce Shroyer for Mendoza with an opportunity to win it with one swing of the bat. Shroyer got a pitch on the innerhalf of the plate that she hit well into left field. It looked like the ball was going to carry out of the park. Instead, the ball stayed in play and hung up in the air long enough for Golden West left fielder Sara Aguilar to make the catch near the line.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Fullerton’s Bautista was behind in the count 1-2. She fouled off three consecutive pitches, as it seemed Bautista was going to find a way to get on base. On the next pitch, she got an outside pitch and lined the ball into right field, but Golden West’s Frei was playing the line and took two steps to her left to make the catch.

Hope Morales came up to the plate and smoked a single to left field past the Rustlers shortstop Candice DeMayo. The winning run was on at first base with Bethany Morrison coming up to the plate.

On a 1-1 count, Morrison was able to get the barrel of her bat out on an inside pitch and roped it into left field. Golden West left fielder Aguilar was shading Morrison toward left-center, and Morrison’s hit went down into the left field corner up against the wall. Morales got an excellent jump off first base, as she was able to cut the corners of the base, which allowed Third Base Coach Aguirre to send her home.

The fans were yelling and screaming, hoping that Morrison’s hit would be the game winner.

The Rustlers Aguilar ran down the line to get the ball, and was able to hit her cutoff man Candice DeMayo at shortstop. Morales was a quarter of the way past third base as DeMayo received the ball. DeMayo made a perfect throw to catcher Weber, but Morales slid into home plate with her left hand before the ball even got to Weber.

“I was trying to stay through the ball, because I have been popping up a lot. The biggest thing was moving the runner over. I was doing anything to move Morales over and get on,” said Morrison. “This was definitely a good moment. I feel like the team support really makes you want it more.”

Fullerton ran out of the dugout and swarmed Morrison over at second base, as they were jumping up and down in celebration. Morrison had a big smile on her face knowing that she was the hero. The fans were shouting in joy, as Morales crossed the plate while high-fiving and hugging each other along the way.

“They were resilient. That’s what I told them and we have faced a lot of adversity. For them to be able to pull together and come together like that, it was like winning a championship today. All you need is one game to turn that curve,” said Aguirre.

Even though Morrison had the walk-off hit to secure the victory, her teammate Ursino provided the offense early on.

Already leading 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning, with two runners on, Ursino fell behind in the count 0-2. Ursino went with the outside pitch and hit it into right field for a base hit and an RBI single.

“My mindset was to see the ball. I could see the outfielder’s shift in front of me. I knew it was going to be outside. I wanted to wait on the pitch and drive it towards the right side. I wanted to score the runner on base,” said Ursino.

Golden West right fielder Frei attempted to throw out Arostigue at home plate. Rustlers catcher Weber had to cross over with her glove to reach for the ball on the right side and make the tag. That allowed Arostigue to slide in safely.

“Ursino was very focused. She’s always locked in. Sometimes you gotta get her to pull back. She made some adjustments yesterday at practice on her swing and it showed today that she did it really well,” said Aguirre.

In the bottom of the third inning, leading 2-1, Ursino had two runners on with one out. Ursino was ahead in the count 2-0, Golden West Head Coach Mike Willey decided to take out starting pitcher Angelique Perez, and brought in Arizmendi. Ursino had to change her mindset as she took the first pitch from Arizmendi on the outside-half for a strike.

On the next pitch, Ursino got another outside pitch and smoked the ball into right center field for a base hit, bringing home Arostigue.

“I wanted to see what Arizmendi’s speed was once I saw it, and she was pitching outside. I was up in the batter’s box and waiting for my pitch, letting it get deep. She was probably gonna throw me a strike with a 3-0 count. I hit it, because I knew she was gonna throw me a strike,” said Ursino.

Fullerton would add three more runs in the inning, as pinch-hitter Toafa Pua took a pitch on the outer-half of the plate, and hit it hard on the right side of the second base bag into center field for an RBI single.

Both Ursino and Pua moved up a bag after an errand throw from Golden West center fielder Rainwater missed the cutoff man, as the ball went toward home plate. Kasey Nichols came in to pinch-run for Pua at second base.

Then Mendoza hit a sacrifice fly to right field, bringing in Ursino. Nichols scored on a wild pitch in which the ball bounced into the dirt and ricocheted off Golden West Weber’s chest protector to the backstop. That put Fullerton up 6-1.

“Offensively, we were working a lot on line drives, getting our timing down, seeing the ball at practice. Yesterday, we got punished if we hit two pop-flies in a row. It’s creating discipline and we wanted to get those line drives, get on base and that’s all we needed,” said Ursino.