The Tritons opened the tournament with a win over No. 1 nationally ranked Valdosta State. UCSD would meet with the Blazers again in the final match, after falling out of the winner’s bracket with a 12-inning 1-0 loss to No. 3 Kutztown. The Tritons then battled their way back from the brink, beating Midwest champions St. Joseph’s 2-1 and then No. 2 Central Oklahoma 2-0 to advance to the title match against Valdosta.
UCSD All-American senior Camille Gaito (33-12) took the mound for the Tritons. Pitching her 17th full game, Gaito gave up a homerun to Valdosta’s Courtney Albritton in her first at-bat. The game remained scoreless until the fourth inning. With bases loaded, sophomore right fielder Caitlin Brown dropped a pop fly to put the Blazers up 2-0. Gaito retired her next two batters, to sneak the Tritons out of the inning.
UCSD took one run back in their next turn at-bat, as sophomore left fielder Kirsten Willmon scored on an illegal pitch.
In the bottom of the sixth, Valdosta put the game out of reach, as the Blazers put runners on first and second. The runners were moved over on a sacrifice bunt. With just one out, Gaito gave up her eighth hit of the game, bringing both runners in to score.
In just their second-ever appearance at the College World Series, the Tritons’ championship run counts as one of the most remarkable midseason turnarounds in program history.
“There were times [this season] where I wouldn’t imagine we’d be here. [Our players] were fighters, and I’m so proud of them,” UCSD head coach Patti Gerckens said to the UCSD Athletics program. “We lost to the No. 1 team in the country, they were good and they deserved to win this game.”
With a lackluster finish to the regular season — finishing fourth in the conference with a 23-13 record, unranked nationally — the Tritons seemed a long shot to qualify for the national tournament. Plagued with injuries, UCSD outclassed its CCAA opponents to claim the automatic bid to the West Regionals. The sixth-seeded Tritons fought their way through eight games, going 6-2 to enter the College World Series as the lowest ranked team.
“Our regular season was mediocre, but our postseason was tremendous,” Gerckens said. “We extended it by three weeks, had more games than ever before and overall it was a great season. Only one team can end with a win and unfortunately this year it wasn’t us.”
Senior centerfielder Kris Lesovsky and Gaito — UCSD’s two All-Americans — both earned All-Tournament team honors.
Lesovsky — a fifth year transfer from Florida Tech — leaves UCSD with a handful of career records. The centerfielder has the record for all-time leader in batting average, hits, RBI, runs, doubles and walks.
Gaito graduates from UCSD as the all-time leader in wins (98), saves, appearances, innings, strikeouts and complete games. The right-hander (98-31) recorded a 1.10 ERA over the span of her last fours seasons with the Tritons.
