TURLOCK, Calif. ? The 24th-ranked UC San Diego softball team waited until the seventh inning to get its first hit, but after it did, two more followed and led to the only run of the game as the Tritons defeated Sonoma State by a 1-0 margin in the first round of the NCAA D-II Softball West Regional on Thursday at Warrior Softball Field on the Cal State Stanislaus campus. With the victory UCSD improves to 35-25 on the season while dropping SSU to 31-31.

“It is always good to win, especially in the NCAA tournament,” said head coach Patti Gerckens. “However, we need to execute better offensively and take advantage of the opportunities that are given to us.”

Sitting on no hits through six innings, freshman Amanda Eliades came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning and singled down the left field line. Dallas Hernandez would then single up the middle before a Jenny Maze single to left center brought home Eliades for the 1-0 margin of victory.

First Team All-West Region selection, Melissa Ward, went the distance for UCSD and improved to 27-12 on the year with the win. She gave up only three hits while walking two and striking out eight.

Sonoma State pitcher, Lindsay Emmel, was stellar through the first six innings, striking out eight and walking none while holding the Tritons hitless. She allowed only two baserunners through the first six innings, one on an error by the third baseman and the other when she hit a UCSD batter.

The victory for the Tritons ties the all-time single season record for victories and advances UCSD into the winners' bracket of the tournament where it will meet the winner of Thursday afternoon's matchup between Cal State Stanislaus and Western Washington. Friday's winner bracket contest is slated for a 4:30 p.m. at Warrior Softball Field.