SOFTBALL ‘mdash;’ Thanks to an outstanding performance in their conference tournament, the Tritons have been granted the No. 7 seed in the NCAA Division-II West Regional. UCSD (29-23) will now battle No. 2 seed Hawaii Pacific University (35-9) on May 8 in St. George, Utah.
The Tritons earned a third consecutive NCAA appearance after winning two out of three games in the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament April 30 and May 1 in Stockton, Calif.
Third seeded UCSD started the CCAA tournament on a sour note, falling to No. 2 seed Cal State Monterey Bay 7-3. In the double-elimination tournament, UCSD stayed alive by trouncing No. 1 Humboldt State University 8-0 and taking a close contest against No. 4 Sonoma State University 3-2.
Cal State Monterey Bay got off to a quick 2-0 lead against UCSD to open the game. With the Tritons trailing 3-1 through four innings, an RBI single from senior first baseman Jenni Habib brought home sophomore outfielder Kristyn Lesovsky and tied the game. Cal State Monterey Bay kept UCSD’s offense at bay for the remainder of the game, shutting out the Tritons while the Otters scored four runs in the fifth for the 7-3 victory.
Facing elimination against defending national champion Humboldt State, the Tritons stepped up their game, crushing the Warriors with 13 hits. Junior shortstop Amanda Eliades had two hits and drove in three runs in the win. Sophomore infielder Sarah Woofter and senior outfielder Allison May contributed two hits apiece in the victory. The Tritons’ domination led the game to be called after six innings of play via the mercy rule.
‘Everyone came up clutch for us: hits, plays in the field, everything,’ Habib said. ‘I don’t think there was anything we failed to do as a whole.’
Freshman pitcher Camille Gaito had another impressive performance. Gaito improved her record to 10-3, while giving up only three hits and striking out two Warriors.
‘Camille was just brilliant today,’ head coach Patti Gerckens said. ‘She kept both teams off balance and had runners on base a lot of the time, but she held her composure in adverse conditions, and that is hard for a freshman.’
UCSD followed the victory over Humboldt State with a battle against Sonoma State, winning 3-2. The Tritons scored in the top of the first on an RBI double from junior catcher Nicole Saari. The Seawolves went on to even the score at one in their half of the first. UCSD then took the lead, making the game a 3-1 contest in the top of third, when May belted a two-run homer to left field. The Seawolves reduced the Triton lead to one run in the bottom of the fourth, but UCSD shut out Sonoma State for the rest of the game, with Gaito picking up her 11th win of the season.
‘The team is playing very well right now and our bats are hot,’ Gerckens said.
With the two victories, UCSD advanced to the CCAA Tournament Championship title game and was set to play for the title in a rematch against rival Cal State Monterey Bay. However, the Tritons were unable to compete for the conference title as severe weather caused the game to be canceled. Shortened by rain, the tournament reverted to a single-elimination format and Cal State Monterey Bay was declared the 2009 CCAA Champions.
‘Monterey got lucky last weekend with the rainout of the championship game.’ Lesovsky said. ‘We will take it to them this weekend at regionals.’
UCSD will face Hawaii
Pacific in the first round of the NCAA Division-II West Regional. The regional is a four-team double elimination tournament. Hawaii Pacific enters the upcoming match against UCSD as the winner of nine straight games, including a victory over University of Hawaii-Hilo in the PacWest conference title game. The Sea Warriors were the victors in a 12-3 drubbing at the Tournament of Champions in Turlock, Calif. The winner of the UCSD-HPU game will take on the winner of No. 3 Dixie State and No. 6 Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday, May 9.
‘The team is ready and looking forward to playing Hawaii Pacific,’ Gerckens said. ‘If we just focus on our game, we will do well.’
In the other West subregional, No. 4 Cal State Stanislaus will take on No. 5 Montana State-Billings, and No. 1 Humboldt State will face No. 8 Sonoma State on Friday in Arcata, Calif.
Readers can contact John Beck at [email protected].