STOCKTON, Calif. ? The UC San Diego softball team erupted for eight runs in the final three innings to dispatch defending national champion Humboldt State 8-0 on the second day of the 2009 California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament Friday morning at Arnaiz Field. Junior shortstop Amanda Eliades went 2-for-3 and drove in three runs to lead the Tritons to the program's first victory in CCAA Tournament play.
Third-seeded UCSD improves to 28-23 overall and advances to face No. 4 seed Sonoma State in an elimination game at 11:30 a.m. The Seawolves lost a 9-0 run rule decision to Cal State Monterey Bay Friday morning after earning a spot in the winners' bracket with a 6-2 victory over the Lumberjacks on Thursday. The winner of the UCSD-Sonoma clash will advance to face No. 2 seed CSUMB in the CCAA Tournament Championship game Saturday at noon.
Top seed Humboldt State fell to 37-18 and was eliminated from the tournament after going 0-2.
Rebounding from Thursday's 7-3 setback to the Otters, UCSD broke a scoreless game with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on Friday. With runners on first and second and one out, Eliades ripped a double to left field, scoring Jenni Habib and Allison May for a 2-0 advantage. Lauren Chastain added an RBI single in the inning, plating pinch runner Lyndsay Gaylord.
The Tritons continued to pour it on in, scoring four more in the fifth. Back-to-back bases loaded singles from May and Eliades gave UCSD a 5-0 lead and Jennifer DeFazio drove in two with a base hit to left to make it a seven-run cushion.
Kristyn Lesovsky scored the Tritons' eighth run on a throwing error by the Lumberjack's second baseman in the sixth, sealing the mercy-rule win.
Habib finished with three of UCSD's 13 hits in the game, while Eliades, DeFazio, May, and Sarah Woofter had two hits apiece.
After suffering her third loss of the season on Thursday, freshman hurler Camille Gaito responded with a dominant performance, holding the conference's top offense to just three hits on the way to her second career complete game shutout. The San Rafael, Calif. native walked two and struck out two in six innings of work, improving to 10-3 on the season.
Gracie Perez (18-7) took the loss for Humboldt State, surrendering three runs on five hits in four innings. Jenna Anderson and Nichole Parada combined to allow four runs on five hits in an inning-plus of relief.
UCSD, now 1-3 all-time in the CCAA Tournament, will look to keep it going against Sonoma State. The Tritons took two of three from the Seawolves during the regular season.
