TURLOCK, Calif. - The No. 9 UC San Diego softball team split its opening two games of a four-game set at Cal State Stanislaus by taking down the Warriors, 2-1, before dropping the final game, 3-2, on Friday afternoon at Warrior Softball Field.
Kris Lesovsky sent her fourth homerun of the season over the left field fence in the opening game, giving the Tritons a 1-0 lead in the third inning. UCSD would leave the bases loaded, but add its final run of the game just one inning later.
After Mya Romero singled and stole second base, Jennifer De Fazio walked to put two Tritons aboard with one out in the fourth. Lesovksy would fly-out for the second out, but Taylor Sepulveda singled to drive-in Romero and make the score 2-0 in favor of UCSD.
The two-run cushion was all Camille Gaito needed, as the UCSD ace powered through the first six innings while giving up just three hits and striking out eight. Gaito would surrender a single and double in succession in the bottom of the seventh inning to allow the Warriors to pull within one; however, Gaito would force a groundout and a foul-out to end the game and improve her record to 19-1 in 2011.
In the second game of the day, the Warriors put three runs on the board against Tess Granath (6-5) in the bottom of the first thanks to an infield throwing error and an RBI double by Veronica Luna. Granath would limit CSUS to just three hits the rest of the way without giving up a run, leading the Tritons into the top of the seventh inning down, 3-0.
Esther Strom would single with one out in the seventh and eventually be thrown out on a fielder's choice off the bat of Sarah Woofter. Down by three with two-down, De Fazio lifted her first homerun of the year to drive-in Woofter and make it 3-2 in favor of CSUS. Lesovsky followed with a double, eventually reaching third on a wild pitch. However, Sepulveda would pop-out with the tying run just 60 feet away, leaving the Tritons with only their second loss in their last nine contests.
UCSD moves to 27-8 in 2011 and 15-6 in conference play. The Tritons retain their half-game lead over Sonoma State for first place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association due to a split between SSU and Cal State Monterey Bay in their Friday doubleheader.
UCSD will wrap-up its series with CSUS with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 9, at 11:00 a.m. at Warrior Softball Field.
