LA JOLLA, Calif. - Senior Nicole Saari starred at the plate and behind the plate Friday, leading the UC San Diego softball team to a doubleheader sweep at home over Cal State Stanislaus. The Roseville native paced the Tritons with a 4-for-7 performance on the day offensively, while blocking pitches in the dirt and keeping Warrior runners honest out of the catcher position.
"Nicole was one of the main reasons why we won the first game," UCSD head coach Patti Gerckens. "She does it all - clutch hitting, picking runners off. She's playing at the top of her game right now."
The Tritons took the first game, 2-0, behind a complete-game shutout from sophomore Camille Gaito. Christine Zankich and Tess Granath combined to hold down the CSUS hitters in the second contest as UCSD escaped with a 5-3 win. The three runs allowed between Zankich and Granath were credited as unearned.
The Tritons improve to 15-9 overall while holding a California Collegiate Athletic Association mark of 11-7. UCSD has now won five straight games. The Warriors fall to 3-16-1 overall, including a 1-13 conference record.
In the opening game, the Tritons scored a second-inning run when freshman Katie Belanger lined a single off the rightfield fence that brought around senior Mandi Eliades. Fast forwarding to the sixth, UCSD tacked on an insurance score with Sarah Woofter crossing the plate on a groundout by Eliades.
Despite the Warriors scrapping together a two-out rally that pushed two runners on base, Gaito shut the door to earn her conference-leading ninth victory of the season.
The Tritons' offense got going early in game two, scoring two runs in the first inning off a Nicole Spangler double that brought in Saari and Woofter. After CSUS rallied for one score in the top of the second, UCSD stretched its lead to 3-1 in the bottom half of the inning after a Woofter single scored Jennifer De Fazio. Junior Katrin Gabriel would stretch that advantage to 4-1 an inning later when she stole third base and sprinted to home when the throw from Warriors' catcher Missy Corral sailed to the left of third base and into the outfield.
The CSUS attack didn't back down, plating two scores in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 4-3. The Warriors did it without a hit, instead getting on with two bases on balls and a hit by pitch. The Tritons responded with one run of their own in the bottom half of the fifth, as Kellin Haley lined a single into leftfield to bring home pinch-runner Dyanna Imoto.
In the end, Zankich earned the win to improve to 5-3 while Granath notched her second save of 2010.
The Tritons and Warriors complete their four-game set on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m.
