Sunday at the Pedretti Sports Complex, the Triton softball team ended the Tournament of Champions with a pair of wins against Central Washington and Concordia University. UCSD beat Central Washington 7–3 and followed that up with a 3–1 win over Concordia.
After losing the first two games in the tournament, the Tritons recovered and won four in a row.
“I was proud of how we bounced back after a tough first day,” Head Coach Patti Gerckens said. “I thought we got stronger as the tournament went on. We competed and fought hard on day two and three to finish strong.”
Humboldt State would go on to win the tournament as UCSD finished in 10th place. The Tritons pushed their record to 25–15 in the season.
Game One
Tied in the bottom of the fifth, the Tritons answered with five runs in the inning and would go on to win 7–3.
Freshman shortstop Maddy Lewis drilled a two-out single to get to first. She would then steal second. The next batter sophomore catcher Lauren Sanders brought her home with a double for the first run of the game. UCSD would score again in the bottom of the second with a single by sophomore outfielder Kelsi Maday that scored sophomore third baseman Rachel Phillips from first.
Concordia would then answer in the top of the third with two runs of its own as junior outfielder Meghan Luebbert smacked a home run.
The Tritons would then take a 7–2 lead with five runs in the bottom of the fifth with Maday and senior outfielder Taylor Abeyta singling consecutively at bats. The next batter, Lewis, would bring in Maday with a single. Sophomore designated player Emily Sklencar would then follow that up with a single of her own to bring Abeyta and Lewis home. Senior shortstop McKenna Clewett managed to drill a home run,adding onto the Triton lead. Concordia was able to squeeze in one run at the top of the seventh with a Luebbert RBI single.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Lauren Brown pitched three innings and gave up two runs while junior left-handed pitcher Milana Casillas earned the win as she came in for relief for four innings and gave up just one run. However, Concordia freshman Jessica Lambourn was the losing pitcher, as she gave up five runs in 4.1 innings.
Game Two
The Tritons scored three runs in the fifth en route to a 3–1 win against Central Washington.
Both offenses had difficulty scoring at the start of the game. UCSD’s defense played well, as Central Washington left seven runners on base in the first five innings.
The Tritons started the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Sophomore second-baseman Kendall Baker began the inning with a single. Next, Maday intentionally walked to bring up Abeyta, who would hit a left field two-run double to bring Baker and Maday home. Abeyta would then come home at the next at-bat, while Lewis would single.
Central Washington would score their only run in the top of the seventh as junior third baseman Alexa Olague would single down the middle to score freshman Celine Fowler. The Tritons would end the game with popout to Clewett.
Senior left-handed pitcher Lexi Edwards successfully pitched a complete game as she only gave up one run. Central Washington’s freshman Brielle Copodonna would be charged with the loss as she gave up three runs in 4.2 innings.
Maday was named to the Tournament of Champions All-Tournament Team.
UCSD heads to San Francisco next for a CCAA matchup against San Francisco State. The Tritons will play the Gators Friday and Saturday, Apr. 8–9 in two double-headers. Friday’s game will be played at 1 p.m. and Saturday’s match will be at 11 a.m.
