Softball — During a week of inclement
Diego
while two other games were rescheduled due to rain. UCSD split a doubleheader
with the
Diego
sweep versus Cal State Dominguez Hills on Feb. 23 between a pair of rained-out
games on Feb. 22 and Feb. 24.
Fresh off of a second-place finish at the Schutt Sports
Leadoff Classic in
Tritons battled against the
of
crosstown rivals. After being silenced by the Toreros’ starting pitcher Alyssa
Luna to the tune of a 4-1 loss, the Triton bats came alive in the second game
of the doubleheader and pulled out a gutsy 6-5 win. The Tritons, who mustered
only five hits in the first-game loss, got a four-hit performance from freshman
outfielder Katrin Gabriele to secure the nonconference split. The prestige of
their opponent’s Division I standing did not intimidate the Tritons, who
marched into the game knowing they were the team to beat.
“We knew going in that we were just as good if not better
than they were,” sophomore catcher Nicole Saari said. “The fact that they’re
D-I wasn’t a big deal; we had beaten them before so we knew we were going to
compete with them. It was good to see our bats come alive in the second game
and come together for a good win.”
Junior first baseman Jenni Habib agreed that the win’s
significance was not that it came against a Division-I team but that it came on
the heels of a loss, showing the team’s resilience and determination.
“What was more exciting than just playing a D-I team was
seeing the bats come alive in the second game,” Habib said. “We didn’t let the
loss in the first game get to us and we answered back.”
The 2008 UCSD squad is stocked full of quality bats, but so
far this year has not been able to fully meet their self-imposed standards. The
Tritons have a season record of 14-4 (4-2 CCAA), but believe that some of those
losses could have been erased with more consistent hitting to back up their
stellar pitching and defense.
“Our offense is still not where we think it should but I
think that little by little we’re getting there,” head coach Patti Gerckens
said. “We’re starting to get more runs so we’re doing okay. I feel that our
offense is going to come around so I’m very optimistic. [The second
of
instead of just wishing and hoping for runs, they went out and made it happen
and that’s what we need to keep doing.”
After the series-opening games on Friday versus Cal State
Dominguez Hills were postponed due to the rain, the skies finally cleared up on
Saturday just long enough for the Tritons to complete their scheduled
doubleheader. In the first game, UCSD put up three runs over the first four
innings but could not extend its lead to put the game out of reach and allowed
the Toros to tie in the top of the fifth inning. With the score tied at three,
senior outfielder Danielle Bundy doubled to left, leading off the bottom of the
sixth. Junior centerfielder Allison May moved Bundy to third with a sacrifice
bunt, but Gabriele was unable to repeat her magic from earlier in the week and
flied out to shallow center. With two outs and the go-ahead runner on third
base, senior second baseman Danielle Lukk came through with a clutch RBI single
up the middle to score Bundy from third and seal the win. Sophomore pitcher
Christine Zankich tossed two and two-thirds scoreless innings in relief to pick
up her second win of the year.
Game two on Feb. 23 saw more of the same from the Tritons,
who put up a four spot in the fourth inning but again allowed the Toros to
creep back into the game. UCSD gave up three runs in the middle innings while
clinging to a 4-3 lead. Their batters woke up again in the sixth inning as
senior third baseman Jenny Maze crushed a solo homerun that easily cleared the
center field wall for a crucial insurance run that led to the Tritons’ eventual
5-3 victory. In the game, junior starting pitcher Lauren Chastain improved her
record to 6-0 and Zankich notched her second save.
The doubleheader sweep was important, especially amid all
the rainouts, but the UCSD hitters still know that they have more to show for
themselves. They are determined not to be satisfied simply with winning — they
want to dominate.
“We definitely wanted to beat [Cal State Dominguez Hills] by
more than just a few runs but they were fighters and they got back into the
game,” Saari said. “We got some runs early on but we needed to score even more
runs later in the game. A win’s a win and that’s great, but we knew that we
could beat them by more.”
Maze’s homerun was her third of the year and the 28th of her
career. Even though every homerun she hits extends her own all-time UCSD
record, the slugger insists that she steps up to the plate with the same basic
mindset of getting quality base hits.
“Right now I’m just trying to hit the ball on the ground and
make good contact,” Maze said. “If it clears the fence, that’s cool, but I’m
just trying to get on base and help the team. We have our mechanics down and
we’re super close to putting it all together. We’re right there so we have
confidence that it will come together soon.”
Next the Tritons will travel to play Cal State San
Bernardino for a four-game series starting on Feb. 29.