The Otters sit at the top of the CCAA standings, with a 27–7 conference record. Monterey Bay closed out its regular season, sharing the conference title with 27–7 Cal State Dominguez Hills.

“We never gave up, unfortunately, we just came up short,” UCSD head coach Patti Gerckens said. “That was frustrating. You could see that we were in it, but Monterey just had a little more than we had.”

Despite losing their last four CCAA matches and playing without the aid of Triton starters senior Tess Granath, junior Dyanna Imoto and Taylor Sepulveda, the Tritons clinched the fourth spot in the conference tournament.

The Tritons also tied their program record by placing six Tritons on the All-CCAA team. Senior centerfielder Kris Lesovsky, senior pitcher Camille Gaito and sophomore designated player Charly Swanberg were all named to the first team. Sophomores Caitlin Brown, Kirsten Willmon and Mya Romero were all named to the second team.

UCSD’s opening match will be against second-seed Dominguez Hills this Friday, April 27 at Arnaiz Stadium in Stockton, Calif.

“At this point in the season you know pretty much what you have to do,” Gerckens said. “You can’t change a whole lot physically; you have to go in mentally tough and you have to work smarter, and so that’s what our goal’s going to be this weekend.”

The last time UCSD met with the Toros was back in the beginning of March, where they took three games in the four-game series.

“I think [we’ll] be ready to work hard come Monday,” Gerckens said. “In tournaments we always rise up a little more.”

GAME 1

The Tritons went down early as the Otters picked up three runs in the second inning. With two outs and two men on base, Monterey Bay’s Angelina Orozco tripled to right center for two RBI. Orozco was brought in to score in the Otters’ next at-bat, off a single from Jamie Moon.

Up 4–0, the Otters kept the bats hot as Moon picked up her second RBI with a double to secure the win.

“Monterey’s a great team,” Gerckens said. “They hit the ball hard, they hit the ball when they needed to and they score runs…and we just did not swing our bats and that’s what’s going to get hits.”

Monterey righthander Cori Reinhardt went the distance to pick up her 18th win of the season.

GAME 2

In the second game of the series, the Tritons were a little better in the box.

Monterey took the early lead in the first inning, but the Tritons were able to equalize off a single from Brown that brought Lesovsky into score.

The Otters picked up another run in the top of the second inning to reclaim the lead. Junior pitcher Jennifer Manuel did well to keep the game close until in the fifth inning, Reinhardt — the Monterey ace and the Otter with the highest slugging percentage on the roster — drilled a triple to right center for three RBI.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Monterey pitcher Kylie Linnane went cold, walking two and allowing five bases on two wild pitches. Linnane was relieved in favor of Reinhardt, but not before allowing four runs.

With the game tied at five, the Otters picked up another run in the seventh. UCSD had no response in its last at-bat.

GAME 3

Swanberg, batting cleanup, singled with two men on base for two RBI. Up 2–0, the Otters took one back in the top of the second inning on two Triton errors.

In the third inning, Monterey recorded three runs to take the lead. UCSD tied it up in the bottom of the third inning off an RBI from Brown, but the Otters took a one-run lead in the top of the seventh inning. With Reinhardt closing, UCSD had no response in the clutch, as the righthander retired the next three Tritons in order.

GAME 4

The Tritons fell in another close match, going down by four runs early.

The Otters’ Nina Villanueva, who has a .462 batting average, hit her ninth homerun of the season in her first at-bat.

Up 2–0, the Otters put the Tritons back by two more runs in the second inning. Lesovsky recorded an RBI in the third inning to bring McQuaid into score. From there, Brown and Romero both doubled to record two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Freshman Maria Sykes singled through the right side in the sixth inning to score another Triton, but it was still too little too late, as the Otters took the 5–4 win.