LA JOLLA, Calif. – The UC San Diego softball team won its first-ever Big West Conference series after beating the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos twice on Saturday afternoon at Triton Softball Field. Game scores were 8-0 in five innings and 8-3, both in favor of the Tritons. With the outcomes, UC San Diego improves to 5-6 (2-1 BWC), while the Gauchos fall to 5-18 (2-4 BWC).
 
GAME 1: UC San Diego 8, UC Santa Barbara 0 (5 Inn.)
The Tritons wasted no time in leaving their mark in the run column. Five hits -- three consecutive singles by the 4-5-6 batters -- led to four runs and an early lead for UC San Diego.
 
The hit party didn't end there. After a scoreless second, the Tritons added three more, bumping their advantage to seven.
 
With no outs, runners were put in scoring position when freshman Deena Pederson singled, followed by a double over the Gaucho's left fielder from redshirt junior Bobbi Aguirre. Next, freshman Gabby Williams plated Pederson with a sac fly. Solid contact hitting from senior Isabel Lavrov and junior Clarissa Reynoso added more insurance a few batters later.
 
Senior Sherriah Harrington notched her second home run of the series as well as her second of the 2021 campaign.
 
Starting pitcher Robyn Wampler mowed down the UC Santa Barbara lineup from the very start. In five innings, the lefty gave up just two hits and saw three batters over the minimum. Her six strikeouts were a season high, including back-to-back K's to win the game.   
GAME 2: UC San Diego 8, UC Santa Barbara 3
Once again, the Tritons scored first in game four of the conference series. On fire all weekend, Harrington tallied another two RBIs to add to her three from Friday and one earlier in the day. The next at-bat, Aguirre singled down the right field line to score Harrington from second.
 
Williams, throwing a gem out in the circle, helped herself out with a double to left center to score two more. Then, junior catcher Kinley Kyro traded places with her pitcher to bring the score to 6-0.  
In the top of the fifth, the Gauchos came fighting back, closing the gap by three runs after a triple cleared the bases.
 
UC San Diego answered with two more in the fifth to put the game out of reach.
 
Williams hurled four innings, allowed two earned runs, seven hits and fanned two. Sophomore Kaia Simpson entered the game in relief in the fifth, tossing a total of three effective innings to collect her first save of the year.
 
QUOTABLE
Watch the postgame interview with Coach Gerckens and Gabby Williams:


 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Pederson led the Triton offense, going 7-for-10 (.700) on the weekend with five RBIs, a home run, a triple, six runs scored, and one stolen base.  Harrington also had at least one hit in every game of the series.
• Williams recorded a team-high 8 RBIs overall, compiling at least two in three out of the four games. 
• UC San Diego out-hit the Gauchos 36 to 26 on the series, reaching double digits in both game two and three.
• Game four of the UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego series was scheduled and ruled as a non-conference game.
• With the three victories, UC San Diego improves to 4-12 (.333) all-time against the Gauchos.  

UP NEXT
UC San Diego will continue Big West play next weekend when they head to Hawai'i for another four-game series on April 2-3. The Tritons and Rainbow Wahine will matchup under the lights as the games are set for 7 p.m. PT and 9 p.m. PT on Friday and 9 p.m. PT and 11 p.m. PT on Saturday.
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
 
Return To Sport… Safely
In order for UC San Diego scholar-athletes to be permitted to return to training and competition safely and within federal, state, local and university guidelines, the athletic department implemented a number of measures designed to complement and enhance the university's highly-successful Return To Learn program.  Notable actions include being physically distanced when practical, including during out-of-season training sessions; wearing masks, except when undergoing physically strenuous exercise; and maintaining proper hygiene.  Athletes, coaches and staff are testing at a higher frequency than the campus population, teams adhere to CDC, NCAA and Big West Conference guidelines and department officials participate in regular meetings with conference and university-affiliated physicians and the UC San Diego emergency operations staff.