Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 SAN MARCOS, Calif.— The No. 7 ranked Cal State San Marcos softball team came smoking out of the gates and never let up Thursday afternoon at the CSUSM Softball Field, scoring 21 straight runs against Vanguard before giving up one late run in the final inning of play.

The afternoon started with a resumption of play from a previously postponed game from February 7 in which CSUSM was the visitors, but the Cougars asserted themselves as the alpha cat quickly over the Lions, who are receiving votes in the latest NAIA Coaches' Poll.

Picking up in the top of the sixth inning in a 3-3 tie, the Cougars' Melyssa Bellamy drew a leadoff walk and eventually scored on Caylyn Rodriguez's single up the middle to quickly take a 4-3 lead. Rodriguez finished the game 3-for-5 with three RBI.

CSUSM broke the game open in the top of the seventh with six more runs on seven hits as the Cougars batted around, eventually taking the game 10-3.

Ashley Dagenais originally started the game for CSUSM back in February, but Katie Wilkinson threw two scoreless innings to finish off the Lions Thursday, earning her 14th win of the season to tie her career high that she set as a freshman when she exploded on the collegiate scene with a 14-0 record.

Wilkinson received the ball again in the first game of the regularly scheduled doubleheader, and continued to breeze her way through the Vanguard lineup, throwing a complete game four-hitter to aid in the Cougars low-stress 8-0 run-rule shorted win. With the win, the junior right-hander improved to 15-2 on the season, giving her the fourth most wins in the NAIA.

Cal State San Marcos scored three runs in the first inning on a sacrifice fly and a two-run double by catcher Tani Leasau.

The lead remained 3-0 until the fourth inning when Holly Fauria— earning her first career start— drove in her first career RBI with a single down the left field line.

After the Cougars added a few more insurance runs in the fifth inning on a two-RBI single by Mallory Campbell and a RBI single by Brenna Parker, Fauria finished the game with a walkoff infield single, hustling to beat out the throw from short to give CSUSM its eighth and final run.

Fauria entered the day with just three hits but went 5-for-10 on the day with two stolen bases, giving the Cougars another speedy weapon at the top of the batting order. She is now hitting .615 in 13 at-bats.

Dagenais took the ball for CSUSM in the final game of the day and kept the Lions at bay, allowing just one hit through the first six innings. It took some time for the Cougars to get on the board, but in the fourth inning Olivia Lucatuorto doubled to center field to bring home the game's first run.

The Cougars added to the lead in the fifth inning on Alex Miller's rocket two-run blast to straightaway center. It was the first homerun of the year for the senior who ranks third on the CSUSM all-time homerun list with 17.

It also may be a sign that the two-time 2nd team All-American is heating up, as the product of West Hills High School who has hit over .400 in three straight seasons has now raised her batting average from .288 at the start of the month to .356.

Leasau added a two-run homer of her own in the fifth inning— a no-doubter to left field to give CSUSM a 5-0 edge.

In the sixth inning, Lucatuorto just missed what would have been the Cougars first three home run game of the season by about a foot, but alertly powered through the bases for a triple and eventually scored when Brogan Hoenisch roped a single to right.

Vanguard finally scraped together a run in the seventh inning, but it had little outcome on the game. Dagenais finished the complete game allowing just three hits and one run, keeping her ERA for the season at 0.99.

With the wins, Cal State San Marcos improved to 25-3-1 on the season. Vanguard dropped to 23-15.

CSUSM will play again Friday and look to add to their 14-game unbeaten streak as they travel to Fullerton for a doubleheader with Hope International. The Cougars next home game is April 8 against San Diego Christian.