THE SCHEDULE
Games 25 & 26
at Cal State Dominguez Hills (10-13, 8-8 CCAA)
Sunday, March 22 • 12:00 p.m. (DH)
Toro Diamond • Carson
Live Audio • Live Stats

Games 27 & 28
at Cal State Dominguez Hills
Monday, March 23 • 12:00 p.m. (DH)
Toro Diamond • Carson
Live Stats

GOING LIVE
Live stats are available for a majority of UCSD's games, including all home contests at Triton Softball Field, and the entire series this weekend in Carson. Follow the play-by-play action by clicking here. Sunday's games with CSUDH can also be listened to online here. Fans can access live coverage for home and away dates from the UCSD schedule page.

SCHEDULE OUTLOOK
The Tritons opened the 2015 campaign with 12-straight games at Triton Softball Field. UCSD has 24 games scheduled in La Jolla with the last series listed on April 24-25 against Cal State San Bernardino. The Tritons still have series against Chico State and Cal State East Bay on the road in conference play. UCSD will also travel to Turlock for the Tournament of Champions on March 27-29. The 2015 CCAA softball championship will be held May 1-3 in Stockton. Check out the full schedule by clicking here.

GERCKENS EARNS 600TH WIN
Triton head coach Patti Gerckens, in her 23rd season in charge, earned her milestone 600th career win with a doubleheader sweep against San Francisco State on Friday, Feb. 13. UCSD won the opener, 4-1, and the Tritons' 5-3 victory in game two helped Gerckens accomplish the feat. Already the winningest head coach in program history, Gerckens has led the Tritons to 10 NCAA postseason berths, six CCAA Championship appearances, one CCAA Championship title in 2012 and a national championship in 2011.

2015 CCAA STANDINGS
UCSD began conference play with a four-game series sweep over SF State at Triton Softball Field, then traveled to Turlock where it took three of four against Cal State Stanislaus. The Tritons lost their first series taking just one of four from No. 3 Cal State Monterey Bay in Seaside, and most recently dropped three of four at home against Sonoma State. UCSD's 9-7 record puts them in fifth place in the CCAA standings. CSUMB sits in first place with a league record of 13-3 and Sonoma State is close behind at 12-3.

1. Cal State Monterey Bay: 13-3, 22-2
2. Sonoma State: 12-3, 20-5
3. Humboldt State: 12-4, 19-8
4. Chico State: 10-6, 13-7
5. UC San Diego: 9-7, 16-8
6. Cal State Dominguez Hills: 8-8, 10-13
7. Cal State San Bernardino: 6-9, 14-14
8. Cal State East Bay: 8-12, 15-13
9. Cal State Stanislaus: 3-17, 9-19
10. San Francisco State: 2-14, 5-17

CCAA LEADERS
UCSD leads the conference in ERA (2.00) and sacrifice flies (8). The Tritons ranks second with sacrifice hits (30), opposing batting average (.238) and third in shutouts (4) and triples (3). Individually, senior Mo Omori holds the top spot in saves with four.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Among all CCAA teams, UCSD ranks:
Offensively
3. Triples (3)
5. Stolen Bases (28)
7. AVG (.271)
9. OBP (.334)
9. SLG (.372)
9. Runs (78)
9. Hits (158)
9. Doubles (26)
9. Home runs (9)
9. RBI (72)
9. Walks (54)

Pitching
1. ERA (1.89)
1. Home runs against (2)
1. Earned runs (46)
2. Runs (67)
3. Hits (143)
7. Strikeouts (79)
9. Walks (84)

ABEYTA TO FIRST
Junior outfielder Taylor Abeyta had the longest on base streak this season with 19 straight games, ending on March 6 in game two against Sonoma State. Freshman catcher Lauren Sanders had the second longest streak with 14 straight games this season, but her streak ended on Feb. 21 in game two against Cal State Stanislaus. Abeyta also had the longest hitting streak this season with six games, while Kelsi Maday and Sanders are tied with the longest active streak at three.

STELLAR PITCHING
UCSD is off to an impressive start in the circle this season. The team currently ranks first in the CCAA with a 2.00 ERA. Additionally, two of UCSD's pitchers rank among the top 5 players in the CCAA in ERA. Alexis Edwards sits in third place with a 1.78 ERA, and Hannah Duarte is in fourth with a 1.84 ERA. The Triton pitching staff has allowed 45 earned runs in 24 games, while recording 79 strikeouts and four total shutouts.

CLEARING THE FENCE
Freshman outfielder Kelsi Maday leads the Tritons with three home runs this season after she hit one out in game two on Feb. 16 against Adelphi. Maday also leads the team with 14 RBI. Freshman catcher Lauren Sanders and junior shortstop McKenna Clewett are second on the team with two homers, which is a season-high for both. Additionally, Emma Schneider and Kendall Woken each have hit one out this season.

SANDERS SLUGGING
Freshman Lauren Sanders currently leads the team in six hitting categories: batting average (.400), slugging percentage (.600), on base percentage (.446), hits (22), doubles (5), and sacrifice flies (3). The Oakdale native also holds the second spot in RBI (12) and home runs (2).

SAVING THE DAY
Senior pitcher Mo Omori has accumulated four saves through 14 games, putting her in a five-way tie for first place on UCSD's single-season list. Omori is on pace for nine saves in the regular season, which would not only set a new single-season record, but would tie assistant coach Camille Gaito's first place all-time record of nine.

DUARTE STRIKES OUT PERSONAL RECORD
With just 15 appearances, junior right-handed pitcher Hannah Duarte has surpassed her season-high strikeouts record with 41 on the season. Duarte's previous record was 13, which she set in 2014 with 19 appearances. Duarte, who is second on the team with a 1.84 ERA, sports a 4.21 strikeouts per 7 innings pitched.

WALK THIS WAY
Lead off hitter McKenna Clewett has amassed 12 walks so far this season, which leads the Tritons and accounts for 22 percent of the team's total walks. Clewett's 12 walks also set a career-high for the junior shortstop. Her previous record was 10, which she set last year.

SHUT IT DOWN
The Tritons are second in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with four shutouts this season. UCSD recorded its first of the season on Feb. 7 in game one against St. Martin's. Hannah Duarte started giving up just three hits in five innings of work, and Mo Omori completed the game with two perfect innings as the Tritons won, 3-0. Duarte then completed her first game en route to the Tritons second shutout in game one against San Francisco State on Feb. 14. The Long Beach native narrowly missed tossing a no-hitter. She finished the game giving up only one hit in five innings of work as the Tritons dismantled the Gators, 8-0. The entire UCSD pitching staff came together to help blank San Francisco State in game two on Feb. 14. Junior lefty Alexis Edwards got the start in the circle and allowed just four runners on base in four innings. Omori came in to relieve Edwards in the fifth for another perfect outing. The senior went 1.2 innings without allowing a single hit. Duarte then sealed up the shutout, going the final 1.1 innings and giving up just one walk as UCSD completed the four-game series sweep against San Francisco State with a 1-0 win. Against Cal State Stanislaus, UCSD recovered from a 6-1 loss that ended its 11 game win streak to blank the Warriors 5-0 on two one-run doubles from Kristin George and Taylor Abeyta, a two-run homer from McKenna Clewett and a sacrifice fly from Kelsi Maday.

TRITON NOTES
Head coach Patti Gerckens earned her 600th career win after the doubleheader sweep of San Francisco State on Friday, Feb. 13 ... After dropping their season opener, the Tritons won 11 straight games, the longest streak since winning 14 in a row over the span of the 2011 and 2012 seasons, and the longest single-season streak since 2001 ... UCSD, who was picked to finish fourth in the CCAA, is currently in fifth place in the conference with a 8-4 mark ... On Feb. 16 against Adelphi, senior Mo Omori picked up her fourth save of the season to tie the UCSD's single-season record ... Alexis Edwards broke into UCSD's single-season list in 2014 with 32 appearances was good for ninth place and 19 wins put her in sixth on the single-season wins list ... Edwards also sits in 10th place on UCSD's all-time strikeouts list with 123 ... The Tritons welcome 10 newcomers to the 2015 squad, including two transfers: Taylor Abeyta (Penn State) and Kristin George (Palomar College) ... The Tritons have 16 California natives on their roster, with Kendall Baker (Berthoud, Colo.) being the only player from out of state ... The Tritons have three local players on the roster: Taylor Abeyta (San Diego/Mt. Carmel HS), McKenna Clewett (Escondido/Orange Glen HS) and Emma Schneider (Carlsbad/Carlsbad HS).

OMORI AND SANDERS EARN WEEKLY HONORS
Senior pitcher Mo Omori and freshman catcher Lauren Sanders were named CCAA Softball Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively, for the week of Feb. 2-8. Omori shined in the circle in UCSD's opening week, making five appearances in six games with two starts. In Omori's 16 innings, she has given up just two runs, only one of which was earned, while striking out seven batters. With her performance in the first week, Omori picked up two wins of the season with an ERA of 0.44. Sanders was also a huge part in UCSD's 5-1. In the second game of the series against SMU, Sanders led off the second inning by hitting the first home run of 2015 on a deep shot over the center field fence, putting UCSD up 1-0. She came up big again for the Tritons in the sixth with her second homer of the night to give the Tritons the 3-2 victory. Sanders went 6-for-11 against the Saints with three RBI, two home runs and a walk. The Tritons picked up three player of the week honors in 2014 and Edwards was UCSD's only pitcher of the week honoree last season.

WHO'S BACK, WHO'S NOT SNAPSHOT
UCSD is coming off a 34-18 overall season while finishing third in the CCAA with a 20-10 mark. The Tritons made their eighth DII NCAA postseason appearance, where they were eliminated from West Regional after losses to Dixie State, 5-3, and Central Washington, 10-1. Head coach Patti Gerckens, going into her 23rd season leading the Tritons, welcomes back the seven players, including Daktronics All-West Region Second Team selection and All-CCAA First Team honoree Alexis Edwards and All-CCAA Second Team member McKenna Clewett. Edwards compiled a 19-10 record and a 2.12 ERA in 168.1 innings last year while leading the Tritons in ERA (2.12), opposing batting average (.230), wins (19), innings pitched (168.1), strikeouts (80) and appearances (32). Clewett finished the 2014 season hitting .372, good for second on the team and scored 27 runs, hit one home run and tallied 25 RBI in 52 games.

HEAD COACH PATTI GERCKENS
Patti Gerckens is in her 23rd season in charge at UCSD. The winningest head coach in program history, Gerckens has led the Tritons to four straight NCAA postseason berths, beginning with back-to-back school-record 45-win seasons and appearances in the Division II championship game, the first of which brought UCSD its first softball title in 2011. The Tritons finished as national runners-up in her milestone 20th campaign in 2012. Gerckens has amassed an overall record of 609-507 (.546), with eight straight 30-win seasons among 10 total. The Tritons have gone 449-335 (.569) in 14 years since Gerckens guided the team's transition from Division III to Division II in 2001, including 269-189 (.587) as a member of the ultra-competitive CCAA, widely considered the best Division II conference in the country. Gerckens has led UCSD softball to 10 NCAA postseason appearances, with eight at the Division II level. UCSD is 21-16 (.568) in the NCAA Division II Championship. Since taking over the team in 1993, 26 of Gerckens' players have combined for 50 All-West Region selections. Thirty-four of her players have earned All-CCAA honors since 2001. She has also coached four All-Americans. Two of her players have earned CCAA Freshman of the Year honors and two Tritons have won CCAA Player or Pitcher of the Year during her tenure. A native of Old Tappan, N.J., Gerckens graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education. She was a four-year starter at second base for the Tar Heels and also played for the New Jersey Blue Jays of the Amateur Softball Association for nine years, winning a championship in 1992.

ABOUT THE TOROS
Cal State Dominguez Hills sports a 10-13 overall record and sits in sixth place in the CCAA with a mark of 8-8. The Toros, who finished eighth in the CCAA last year, missed the league's postseason tournament in 2014 after four consecutive trips. CSUDH lost six seniors who were a part of four CCAA postseason trips, two to the NCAA West Region tournament and two to the NCAA Super Regional tournament. The Toros got off to a slow start losing their first five games to Cal State San Marcos, Azusa Pacific, St. Martin's and Central Washington. CSUDH picked up its first win of the year against New Mexico Highlands and followed up with its second against Montana State Billings the following day. Additionally, the Toros had a slow start in conference play, dropping three of four to Sonoma State. They then bounced back with series wins against Cal State Stanislaus and San Francisco State. CSUDH is coming off a series loss to No. 3 Cal State Monterey Bay, in which the Otters swept the Toros. The second-year CSUDH head coach is a very familiar face in Kim Aggabao, who starred for Patti Gerckens as the Triton second baseman from 2001-04. She was the 2004 CCAA Player of the Year as a senior, starting all 56 games and hitting .411.

SERIES HISTORY
CSUDH holds a 52-40 all-time series record against UCSD. The Tritons concluded the regular season last year with a series win against the Toros, taking three of four with scores of 3-2, 4-0, 2-3 and 2-0.

GEAR HERE
UCSD Athletics has partnered with Advanced-Online to provide a web-based, on-demand option for UCSD apparel and merchandise. Fans have access to over 600 products that can be processed and shipped within 24 hours. Visit the site at UCSDTritonsGear.com.

SOCIAL MEDIA - #TritonsRising
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UP NEXT
The Tritons will head up to Turlock next weekend to compete in the Tournament of Champions. UCSD is set to face Hawaii Pacific, Chaminade and Dominican on Friday before playing Western Washington and Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday.

#TritonsRising