CARSON, Calif. - Coming into Sunday's game with just one home run on the year, Emma Schneider cleared the fence twice at Toro Diamond to bring her season total to three. However, the UC San Diego softball team dropped both games against Cal State Dominguez Hills. CSUDH used a seventh-inning rally to win game one, 4-2, and took game two in a 7-2 decision.
"I was very disappointed with our performance today," head coach Patti Gerckens said. "Hopefully tomorrow we will compete better."
The Tritons drop to 16-10 overall and 9-9 in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play, while the Toros improve to 12-13 overall, with a 10-8 league mark.
Game One
The Tritons jumped on the Toros early in the series opener. Junior McKenna Clewett led off the game with her sixth double of the year and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from centerfielder Taylor Abeyta. In the third at bat of the game, Schneider put UCSD up 1-0 with a single.
Schneider added to the Tritons lead in the third. With one out, the Carlsbad native hit her second homer of the season, making it 2-0 UCSD.
Lefty Alexis Edwards was perfect through the first two innings, retiring CSUDH in order. It wasn't until the third inning that the junior gave up her first hit on a single. Edwards allowed just two runners to reach base in both the third and fourth inning, before pitching two more perfect innings in the fifth and sixth.
Unfortunately, the Tritons found trouble in the final frame. After the Toros led off with three straight singles, Jasmine Ruiz hit a walk-off grand slam to give CSUDH the 4-2 win.
Edwards (7-2) finished the day with four earned runs, seven hits and three strikeouts. Schneider led the Tritons offense going 3-for-3 at the plate with two singles and a homer. Kendall Woken and Lauren Sanders also shined at the plate, both going 2-for-3 with two singles.
Game Two
The Toros wasted no time getting on the board in the second game. Madison Murphy, who led off the game with a single, put CSUDH up 1-0 in the first inning when she scored on an error.
But the Tritons answered right back. Sanders reached in the top of the second on an error, and then Ashley Chestnut and Kelsi Maday hit back-to-back singles to load the bases. Kristin George found a hole to drive in Sanders and tie the game at 1-1.
In the bottom of the second, CSUDH took a 4-1 lead on a solo home run from Kaci McGinnis and a triple from Ruiz to drive in Jazmyne Cortinas. Ruiz would later score the final run of the frame on a wild pitch.
After hitting one out of the park in game one, Schneider had a repeat performance in game two as she powered a solo home run over the fence to cut UCSD's deficit to 4-2. Schneider's second homer of the day puts her in a two-way tie for first place on the Tritons, tying Maday.
Hannah Duarte, making her 16th start of the season, worked three scoreless innings with help from the Tritons' defense. After McGinnis hit a single to load the bases, Sanders caught Alexandra Mootry rounding second for the second out of the game. Clewett then secured the final out of the inning on a diving stop and reached out to tag second from the ground.
Duarte then worked a perfect fourth and fifth inning, retiring CSUDH in order. But the Toros tacked on three more runs in the sixth inning, giving them the eventual 7-2 win.
UCSD will conclude the four-game series at CSUDH Monday with a doubleheader starting at noon.
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