LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC San Diego softball team completed a four-game sweep of Cal State Stanislaus Saturday, topping the Warriors 5-1 and 2-1 behind strong pitching performances from Camille Gaito, Brittany Sheats and Christine Zankich. The Tritons enter exam week with a seven-game winning streak.
Gaito and Zankich allowed just one run each, lowering UCSD's conference-best earned run average to 1.62 as a team. The Tritons improved to 17-9 overall and 13-7 within the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The Warriors meanwhile now hold an overall record of 3-18-1, including 1-15 in league play.
The UCSD offense scored all of its runs Saturday in the first and second innings. In game one, the Tritons got three scores in the first on run-producing singles from Nicole Spangler and Kellin Haley. An inning later, UCSD added two when Colleen Moen scored on a wild pitch before a Sarah Woofter single down the line brought home Kris Lesovsky.
With Gaito en route to her league-leading 10th victory of the season, Lesovsky put together a 3-for-3 performance at the plate. Sheats shut the door on the win, tossing a scoreless final inning to leave the result at 5-1 in favor of the Tritons.
After the Warriors mirrored Saturday's opener with a first-inning run in game two, the UCSD attack once again countered strong. Lesovsky opened the Tritons' first turn at the plate with a homerun. The shot marked her fourth homerun of the season, with three coming as leadoff blasts. All four homeruns have come in the last eight days. Later in the inning, a two-out single from Mandi Eliades would bring home Nicole Saari.
The 2-1 lead for the Tritons held for the remainder of the game, in spite of a late Warrior rally that had the fans on the edges of their seats. After getting two quick outs to start the top of the seventh inning, Zankich loaded the bases. She induced a groundout from pinch-hitter Veronica Luna and wrapped up her sixth win of the season.
After a week of exams, the UCSD squad will return to action on March 21 with a non-conference doubleheader with Cal State San Marcos. First pitch on that Sunday is set for 12 p.m.
