SEASIDE, Calif. - It was a split decision for the No. 22 University of California San Diego softball team Friday as it kicked off a four-game conference series at Cal State Monterey Bay. The Tritons won the opener, 2-0, before falling by a 5-4 count in the second contest.
Freshman Sherriah Harrington (Chula Vista/Eastlake HS) registered four hits in the leadoff spot as UC San Diego moved to 28-15 overall and 21-13 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA).
Game One: UC San Diego 2, Cal State Monterey Bay 0
The Tritons, ranked fifth in the NCAA West Region, scored once in each of the first two innings to secure the victory.
In the opening frame, Harrington led off the game with a triple down the right field line, the first three-bagger of her career. She would later cross the plate on a passed ball to give UC San Diego a 1-0 lead.
With two outs in the second inning, left fielder Mikaila Reyes (San Diego/Torrey Pines HS) homered to left-center, her third long ball of the season.
The two runs were all the Tritons needed as freshman starter Robyn Wampler, the reigning CCAA Pitcher of the Week, kept the Otters to just three hits while walking one and striking out seven. The left-hander improved to 19-7 with her seventh shutout (two combined) and 16th complete game performance.
Harrington had two of UCSD's five hits.
Julia Garcia was 2-for-3 for CSUMB. Hayley Fein suffered the loss, surrendering both runs (one earned) while striking out three and walking none.
It was the seventh shutout win of the season for the Tritons.
Game Two: Cal State Monterey Bay 5, UC San Diego 4
Cal State Monterey Bay jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after scoring a pair of runs in the first inning.
UC San Diego answered right back with two runs of its own in the top of the second. First baseman Sharona Mataele drew a leadoff walk and freshman right fielder Michele Ota reached on an infield error. With two outs following a sacrifice and a strikeout, Harrington singled to left-center with Mataele and Ota both scoring on the play to tie the game at 2-2.
The teams traded runs again in the bottom of the third and the top of the fourth. Ota's first career home run evened the score at 3-3.
In the bottom half of the fourth, the Otters went up 5-3 when Fein cranked a two-run double to right-center.
The Tritons got back within a run in the top of the seventh when freshman third baseman Isabel Lavrov walked with one out. She moved to second on a ground out and scored when freshman catcher Bobbi Aguirre singled through the left side of the infield. However, another ground out ended the comeback bid.
Aguirre, Harrington, and shortstop Maddy Lewis all had two hits apiece. Right-handed relief pitcher Dominique Acosta (2-1) took the loss for the Tritons, giving up two runs over two innings in the circle.
UCSD out-hit CSUMB, 8-7.
Fein (15-13), who had three RBI, tossed her second complete game of the day, walking two and striking out six.
Cal State Monterey Bay is now 23-24 overall and 15-16 in the CCAA.
The series concludes Saturday with an 11 a.m. doubleheader at the Otter Sports Complex.
#BigWestBound
