The pair of victories snapped UCSD's three-game skid and improved the Tritons to 7-3 overall and 3-3 in CCAA play. Cal State Stanislaus dropped to 4-11 and 0-2 in conference competition.

"I feel really positive after the wins tonight. A lot of people stepped up in new roles and came through in clutch situations," said UCSD head coach Patti Gerckens.

Romero went 2-for-6 on the day, but her two hits could not have been more timely for the Tritons. Down 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning of game one, Romero lifted a two-out double to right center with the bases loaded to clear the bases and hand UCSD a 3-1 lead. Four hours later, Romero broke a 4-4 stalemate in the bottom of the ninth with a laser down the left field line to score Kris Lesovsky and hand the Tritons the win.

"(Romero) and I have been talking a lot about slowing the game down, breathing, and taking it one pitch at a time,"said Gerckens. "She's so solid at short and she's a great batter. She struggles sometimes, but she's working through that and hopefully her confidence improved tremendously today."

UCSD was held to just two hits in its first four at-bats of game one, but the Tritons caught a break when CSUS centerfielder Rachel Borges lost Annie Heskett's liner in the sun to allow Heskett aboard with one out in the fifth. Kirsten Willmon singled to left field and the runners took second and third on Lauren Liming's misplay on the bounce. Lesovsky drew an intentional walk to load the bases.

Emily McQuaid hit a hard ground ball to the right side of the infield, but CSUS made a play at the plate on Heskett to keep the Tritons off the board. Romero, who was 0-for-2 with a strikeout coming into the at-bat, drove Brittani Weatherford's (2-4) third pitch into the gap in right field to empty the bags and give the Tritons a 3-1 lead.

UCSD added another in the sixth, as Tess Granath doubled off the left field wall with two out. Granath rolled her ankle while rounding first and was replaced by pinch runner Anne Wethe. Maria Sykes picked Wethe up with a bloop single into right and the former UCSD soccer standout came around for the Tritons' final score. Sykes was 2-for-3 in game one.

Camille Gaito (5-1) had a routine outing in the opening affair, limiting the Warriors to five hits and an unearned run while tallying her third complete game of the year. CSUS took advantage of two infield errors by the Tritons to score its only run in the opening game.

Kayla Hensel took the reigns in the second game for UCSD and held CSUS to just four hits in her first five innings of work. Liming tagged Hensel for a home run in the second inning to give the Warriors a 1-0 edge, but Caitlin Brown answered in the third inning with a towering shot over the left-center field fence to put UCSD up 3-1.

Willmon drove-in Granath with a squeeze bunt in the fourth to give the Tritons a 4-1 lead. However, it was be the only run UCSD gained in the inning after loading the bases with one out.

The Warriors made the Tritons pay for not taking advantage of their chance in the fourth, rallying for back-to-back doubles and three runs in the top of the sixth to pull even at 4-4. Jennifer Manuel helped the Tritons escape the inning before turning the ball over to Gaito the rest of the way.

Gaito struck-out five of the 11 batters she faced between the seventh and ninth innings, limiting Warriors to a single base runner and setting the table for the the Tritons' ninth-inning rally.

"Kayla pitched some strong innings, but to have Camille come in and shut it down is a really good feeling," said Gerckens.

Willmon grounded out to second before Lesovsky was intentionally walked for the second time on the day. Lesovsky stole second on the first pitch to McQuaid to give the Tritons a runner on second base and one out. McQuaid sent a ground ball to third base, but Lesovsky could not move to third on Jordan Flora's hard throw across the infield to catch McQuaid.

After a short talk with Gerckens along the third base line, Romero laced a hard single down the line and Lesovsky beat the throw to the plate, handing the Tritons the victory in walk-off fashion.

UCSD and Cal State Stanislaus clash again on Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. for another CCAA doubleheader at Triton Softball Field.

Fans interested in watching the UCSD-Cal State Stanislaus doubleheader on Saturday, February 18 can sign up now for their FREE Triton Zone subscription by clicking here. Your subscription allows you to create your own username and password so that you can login and enjoy any of UCSD's live-streamed athletic events. All of UCSD softball's Saturday home contests will be streamed live on UCSDTritons.com. Tim Stromboli will provide the live play-by-play.