UCSD softball won three of its last six games, starting with two victories against Sonoma State on March 14, followed by a win and a loss against USD on March 26, and ending with two losses against CSU Stanislaus on March 28.
The Tritons started things off strong with an 8-0 mercy rule victory against Sonoma, with five innings of three-hit ball from freshman pitcher Stephanie Kurz. Junior Amy Mettee hit her first of three home runs in the past six games as UCSD rolled over the Seawolves. The Tritons scored one in the first inning, three in the second, two in the third, and one in each the fourth and fifth.
“”We play best when we play aggressive, and we definitely came out strong in the first game,”” Mettee said.
The second game of the series resulted in a 3-1 Tritons victory, with the victory going to sophomore Keri Hanley, bringing her record up to 4-6. The score was 1-1 until the fifth inning when Mettee and sophomore Jamie Hurst hit back-to-back home runs, with Hurst’s homer being her first of the season.
“”We played great, we hit well, our defense played great, we just came out ready to start the second half of our season strong,”” said head coach Patti Gerckens.
UCSD then moved on to play against USD, losing the first game 1-0 and giving Kurz her second loss of the season, bringing her record to 4-2. The Tritons were only able to muster two hits, both coming from Hurst.
The second game against USD resulted in a nine inning 7-6 victory for the Tritons, with the win going to Hanley for her four innings of work, bringing her record to 5-6. UCSD collected 10 hits in the game, including two from Hurst, two from junior Jodie Bland and two from freshman Desiree Franciscus. Both UCSD and USD scored one run in the eighth inning, but the Tritons were able to score two in the ninth, while USD could only answer with one.
“”We played two good games, we only lost the first by one run with no errors, we just didn’t hit,”” Gerckens said. “”The second game we got our bats going a little late, but we played well in pressure situations.
UCSD’s next series took place at Turlock, Calif., where the Tritons lost the first game to the Warriors by a score of 2-0. Both of Stanislaus’ runs came in the sixth inning off Kurz, bringing her record down to 4-3 on the season. UCSD was only able to produce three hits in the game, one each by Mettee, Bland and freshman Jenny Spencer.
The Tritons second game against Stanislaus resulted in a 5-3 win for the Warriors, with the loss going to starter Bland, dropping her record to 5-5. UCSD was able to produce eight hits, three coming from Hurst, as well as a home run by Mettee, her sixth of the season, but they left eight runners on base compared to the Warriors’ three.
UCSD’s record now sits at 14-15, overall and 9-11 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The Tritons next series will be against the University of Hawaii-Hilo at home on March 30.
