There is nothing more dangerous for a team vying for a playoff spot then a game against a team with nothing to lose. Already ineligible for this year’s California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships, Cal State Bakersfield was looking to play the role of spoiler on April 17 at Triton Softball Stadium.
Freshman shortstop Amanda Eliades connected for the first home run of her career in the Tritons’ 5-0 win over Cal State Bakersfield on April 17. Unfortunately for UCSD and its playoff standing, the team lost the second game of the doubleheader 1-0.
UCSD is battling for playoff positioning, and with only four conference games left, it still has its sights set on moving up.
Head coach Patti Gerckens described the necessity of remaining calm despite playoff standings being on the line in the Tritons’ last four games.
“”The main thing right now is how we play,”” she said. “”We need to be consistent both with our hitting and our fielding and we have got to stay relaxed.””
Junior third baseman Jenny Maze and the Tritons aim to make up for their recent 0-1 loss against Cal State Bakersfield when they head to Chico State for their last conference games on April 20 and 21.
Rallying behind last week’s four-game winning streak, the Tritons split their games with Cal State Bakersfield, 5-0, 0-1.
The wins pushed the Tritons’ record to 29-23 overall with a 20-12 CCAA mark.
“”We really would’ve put ourselves in a good position [for playoffs] had we won both today,”” Gerckens said. “”We had more hits and just didn’t capitalize.””
Junior ace Melissa Ward once again started both games and worked all but one inning, when freshman Christine Zankich took the mound, in the two contests.
Ward said that pitching back-to-back doesn’t take a toll on her arm when she has a few days to rest between starts. But come playoff time, the rest she enjoys now won’t exist.
“”It’s the final stretch and I just kind of bear down,”” she said. “”I spend a lot of time icing and a lot of time resting [my arm].””
In game one of the doubleheader, junior second baseman Danielle Lukk opened up the game with a single and would later score on freshman shortstop Amanda Eliades’ first collegiate home run.
After the two-run first inning for the Tritons, the bats didn’t heat up again until the fifth.
Junior leftfielder Randelle Bundy picked up an RBI on a fielder’s choice and senior outfielder Brittni Carino tallied hers with a sacrifice bunt to take give UCSD a 5-0 lead.
Trailing in the bottom of the seventh inning, Cal State Bakersfield made things interesting by loading the bases with two outs. With the pressure on, Zankich collected herself to get the final Roadrunner batter to fly out to center field and complete the shutout.
Gerckens never second-guessed the call and really believed in Zankich.
“”She got two outs right away but the umpire kept squeezing her and wasn’t calling strikes,”” Gerckens said. “”It would’ve been nice to get the out right away, but if she threw [her pitches] anywhere else, they would’ve been hittable.””
Besides two innings of scoring, game one was a back-and-forth pitchers’ duel. The only difference in game two was the outcome.
The UCSD offense went stale in the midst of the battle between Ward and Cal State Bakersfield freshman Katie Chavez.
The Tritons had their opportunities in the top half of the second inning. Eliades got things started with a chopper into left field. Sophomore first baseman Jenni Habib followed with a liner into right field and both runners advanced on senior catcher Nikki Palmer’s sacrifice bunt.
Despite the scoring threat, sophomore outfielder Allison May’s pop out to left field sent the Tritons back out to the field.
In the top of the fourth, UCSD again had runners in scoring position but couldn’t bring them home.
Palmer came up to bat with Habib on first and ripped a drive to center field that sent Cal State Bakersfield’s left and center fielders crashing through the fence.
The hit was called a ground-rule double, landing Palmer on second and Habib on third.
The Triton rally was thwarted, however, when the Roadrunners’ third baseman snagged a line drive off May’s bat.
Had the fence not come crashing down, Habib would’ve scored to give UCSD the lead. Instead, Habib was forced to return to third base because of the ground-rule double and the run was erased.
“”Unfortunately that’s just how the game is,”” Gerckens said. “”We definitely would’ve scored but it’s hard to say how it may have changed the outcome of the game.””
Ward also felt the blow as the fence fell down.
“”I don’t think it was so much a downer, but it would have built up momentum,”” she said.
Momentum built for the Roadrunners instead, as two bloopers fell just out of reach of Triton outfielders in the bottom of the seventh and gave the Roadrunners the one-run victory.
Disappointed, Gerckens gave the team a stern speech after the game.
“”I told them I wasn’t happy,”” Gerckens said. “”They have to learn to play the same game in the second and the first. We consistently don’t come out in attack mode in that second game.””
UCSD will conclude conference play April 20 and 21 at Chico State with doubleheaders on both days. The regular season will conclude on April 28 with two home games against Cal State San Marcos before CCAA playoffs.
