FULLERTON, Calif. – The Toledo softball team opened the first day of the CSF/ LBSU Tournament with a 4-2 win over Fairfield in the opener, followed by a 4-1 loss to tournament host Cal State Fullerton in the nightcap on Thursday.
In the victory over Fairfield, junior
Kendra VanderLugt clubbed a two-run homer to give Toledo the lead, and senior
Jenna Kroll added another two-run dinger to put Toledo ahead 4-2 which held up as the final score. Junior
Sophia Knight (6-4) struck out a season-high nine batters to pick up the win.
In the nightcap vs. CSF, UT trailed 2-0 late until senior
Riley Mohr broke up the shutout with an RBI single in the sixth. But the Rockets could not come up with any more runs, falling 4-1 and settling for the split. Junior
Kylee Graham pitched all six innings in the loss.
Mohr led the UT offense with three hits on the day, while VanderLugt and Kroll each drove in two runs. Kroll's homer is the 21
st of her career tying her with Lindsey Tobias (2010-13) and Chandler Rice (2014-17) for the No. 4 spot in Toledo history. Kroll is also up to 91 career RBIs which ranks No.8 in UT history and trails No.7 Lani Ernst (2011-14) who drove around 92 batters. Dayna Denner (2020-22) sits atop the program with 28 career home runs, while Rhonda King (1987-90) holds the Toledo record with 131 career RBIs.
Toledo (7-9) will play a doubleheader on Friday against Ivy League's Yale at 4:00 p.m. (EST) and Princeton at 6:30 p.m. (EST) at Anderson Field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
GAME 1
Toledo 4, Fairfield 2
- Toledo had a chance to break the 0-0 stalemate in the second inning with two outs but left the bases juiced as a fly out to left field ended the inning.
- Kendra VanderLugt smashed a two-run homer out to left field in the fourth, her first of the season.
- Fairfield's Morgan Sylvestre tied the game at 2-2 with a two-run double in the top of the fifth.
- In response, Jenna Kroll hit one out to left field to give the Rockets a 4-2 lead, her second homer of the year.
- Sophia Knight struck out four batters in the final two innings, and the UT defense did not let a Stag reach base to secure the opening win.
GAME 2
Cal. State Fullerton 4, Toledo 1
- CSF drove in a run in both the first and second innings.
- Riley Mohr hit an RBI double to center field in the sixth, to cut the lead to 2-1.
- The Titans added two runs in the sixth off a two-run single to push ahead 4-1.
- The Rockets went down in order in the seventh to end the game.