This season, UCSD has continuously been forced to upset higher ranked squads. The Tritons came into the West Regionals with the sixth-seed, clawing their way out of the region by narrowly beating first-seed CSU Dominguez Hills in three games.
In the first round of the NCAA Division II Championships, UCSD faced the winners of the South Region Valdosta State (52–5), taking a 7–5 win.
Senior ace Camille Gaito, pitching her 13th straight game, retired her first three batters in order, setting the stage for a six run bottom of the first.
Leadoff hitter Kris Lesovsky—2011 and 2012 All-American—was moved to third base off a wild pitch and a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, sophomore Mya Romero singled to left field to bring Lesovsky in to score. UCSD went up by two more runs as Valdosta pitcher Alanna Hadley walked two more Tritons to load the bases with senior Nicole Spangler up to bat. The first baseman sent a big double to left field for two RBI.
With Spangler on second and freshman Maria Sykes on third, Portugal homered to left field to put the Tritons up a definitive 6–0.
“Hitting is contagious, and when I see my teammates working hard and finding ways to get on base and hitting the ball hard it makes me want to continue the rally and help my team,” Portugal said in an email interview. “Going up to the plate I was only trying to get a base hit and knock in another run.”
The Tritons picked up their last run of the game in the bottom of the second as UCSD was granted three bases on illegal pitches, allowing Lesovsky to score.
Hadley was pulled in the second inning in favor of Valdosta’s Courtney Gunby, who kept UCSD scoreless in their remaining four innings, while allowing only three hits.
Valdosta picked up two runs in the third off a costly in-field error, and nearly forced extra innings in the bottom of the seventh. The Blazer’s Morgan Johnson smashed a two-run home run and picked up another run before Gaito was able to close them out.
UCSD will now advance to the winner’s bracket, where they will face Kutztown (51–5) in the second leg, Thursday, May 17.
Kutztown — the Atlantic Region champions — defeated Augustana in its opening match 4–0.
“I think we’re going into tomorrow’s game very strong,” Portugal said. “We were a little rough around the edges today, but our hitting couldn’t be peaking at a better time. As a whole, our team’s hitting has progressively been getting stronger every weekend, so the outcome of our games will only continue to get better.”
