Head Coach Patti Gerckens earns her 600th career win en route to UCSD’s four game CCAA sweep.
Win 600 came on a flawless weekend for head coach Patti Gerckens. The UCSD women’s softball team managed to pull off a clean sweep of the season’s opening California Collegiate Athletic Association series against San Francisco State on Friday and Saturday at the Triton Softball Field, during which Gerckens earned her 600th career win as UCSD’s shot-caller.
“Winning four games against San Francisco State is really great for us” Gerckens told the UCSD Athletics Department. “To be able to say that I’ve been here at UCSD, I’m proud of that. I’m proud that I have worked with the athletes for so many years.”
On Friday, the Tritons took both games by scores of 4–1 and 5–3, respectively, and repeated their success on Saturday without conceding any runs, winning 8–0 and finally 1–0. Counting another pair of wins on Monday, UCSD is now 11–1 overall on the season and, with the recent series sweep, opens with a 4–0 record in the CCAA.
In the first game on Friday, UCSD looked dominant from the outset. In the bottom of the second inning, freshman catcher Lauren Sanders and outfielder Kelsi Maday and junior outfielder Taylor Abeyta loaded the bases before freshman third-baseman Rachel Phillips and junior shortstop McKenna Clewett stepped in and claimed an RBI each for the first runs of the game. That score was doubled in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded again, sophomore utility Bianca Devoto hit a single to take in two more runs and secure the 4–1 final score. Junior pitcher Hannah Duarte (3–1) took the win, recording five strikeouts and allowing only one run on five hits.
In the second of Friday’s games, Devoto first got the Tritons on the scoreboard, sliding across the plate after an RBI single from Sanders. In the second inning, UCSD demonstrated its enormous batting power, taking four runs from five hits. Devoto hit a sacrifice fly to give the Tritons the first run of that inning. Sophomore first-baseman Emma Schneider then hit a double, running in Phillips and Abeyta. The offensive onslaught was finished off with an RBI double from Sanders to bring the Tritons to a 5–0 lead.
Though San Francisco State attempted a comeback with three runs in the seventh, UCSD ultimately took the game 5–3.
Saturday’s first game saw the Tritons continue to make easy work of the Gators. A home run from Schneider put in herself and Clewett, and a solo shot from Maday gave the Tritons an early 3–0 lead at the end of the first.
In the third inning, the Tritons tallied up five more runs. With the bases loaded, Maday produced a single to put in Schneider and freshman second-baseman Kendall Woken. Sophomore first-baseman Ashley Chestnut then hit a two-run double with the bases loaded once again. A sacrifice fly from Phillips gave UCSD its final run en route to an impressive 8–0 shutout victory. It was a near-perfect game for Duarte, who earned another win off five scoreless innings, allowing only three batters to reach bases.
The final game between both squads was a tighter affair than the previous ones, with only one run being produced by either side. Junior pitcher Alexis Edwards started on the mound and managed four innings with no runs, three hits and a walk. Senior pitcher Mo Omori came in to pitch a perfect inning in the fifth and was replaced by Duarte, who pitched no runs, no hits and one walk for the rest of the game. The lone run of the game came from Clewett, who scored on a wild pitch. The Gators came close to levelling the game, but, thanks to a great throw from Maday, UCSD took the out at home base to win the contest 1–0.
“We’re really coming together as a team, and we’re really starting to gel,” Maday said.
Such is evident, as the Tritons, who proceeded to win their next two games on Monday against Adelphi University, have won 11 straight contests since opening the season with only a single loss. Despite a completely new and younger lineup this season, UCSD appears to already be coming together as a top CCAA squad and NCAA contender.
The Tritons will next embark on the road in a four-game league series against Cal State Stanislaus, with the first game slated for 1 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20.
