LA JOLLA, Calif. – The UC San Diego softball team split with the UC Riverside Highlanders on Saturday afternoon at Triton Softball Field. After dropping their fourth one-run game of the year in the opener, 3-4, the Tritons bounced back strong to run-rule the visiting team 9-1 in six innings.
With the outcomes, UC San Diego moves to 10-18 overall and 6-11 in the Big West. The Highlanders shift to 7-22 and 6-14 in conference play.
GAME 1: UC San Diego 3, UC Riverside 4
The Tritons scored first in game one on three hits from the 1-3-4 batters in
Keila Bosinger,
Bobbi Aguirre, and
Sherriah Harrington. Harrington was credited with the RBI to get the run production going.
UC Riverside would come back shortly after to tie it up at one apiece after an RBI triple past a diving center fielder
Kelley Renner.
Kaia Simpson got the start on the bump, her ninth in 2021. From the get-go, Simpson retired three of the first four she faced by way of strike out. The righty from Seattle, Wash. found trouble in the third, a bases loaded two-out jam, but escaped with no harm done.
In the fourth,
Clarissa Reynoso gave her team the advantage on a one-out single to left field to score
Isabel Lavrov who reached on a hit by pitch.
The Highlanders would rally late in the sixth. With two retired, a double to right center from Kennedi Sorenson plated two to give UC Riverside its first lead of the day.
Down 2-3,
Sophia Real lined a triple that rolled to the right field corner, scoring
Keila Bosinger all the way from first base. Although, it wouldn't be enough as the Highlanders scraped one across in the top of the seventh, which would ultimately be all they needed to take game one from the Tritons.
Robyn Wampler came in relief for Simpson in the fifth. The lefty was credited with the loss (5-11) after allowing three earned runs on five hits in the 16 batters faced.
GAME 2: UC San Diego 9, UC Riverside 1 (6 Inn.)
The Highlanders used their momentum from the last game, scoring first this time around. However, it was all Tritons the rest of the way.
In the bottom half of the first, Bosinger, Aguirre,
Gabby Williams and Lavrov went station-to-station to rack up two runs for the home team.
A bases loaded walk to
Sophia Real gave the Tritons their largest margin of the day in the second inning. A few batters later, Harrington capitalized with a two-RBI double to left center, allowing two more to find home.
The middle innings were scoreless until the fifth.
Danica Kazakoff sent a double to left center to bring around
Kaleigh Lane who reached on a leadoff pinch-hit single. UC San Diego would go on to score three more, including a walk-off walk to Kazakoff to end the game.
QUOTABLE
"I think we made several adjustments in the second game, firing on all cylinders," said redshirt sophomore
Kelley Renner. "We had a lot of energy as a team and we were there for each other. We picked each other up when we needed it most and scored runners on base in pressured situations."
TRITON TIDBITS
- As a team, the Tritons batted .373 between both games. Keila Bosinger was 4-for-7 (.571).
- Catcher Clarissa Reynoso threw out her fifth and sixth runners on the year, one apiece in each contest.
- The Tritons left a total of 20 on base, 11 in game one, nine in game two, compared to the Highlanders' 14.
- Sherriah Harrington received her first career start in right field in the nightcap, mostly seeing time at first base or designated player.
- Senior Trudie Nixon earned her first collegiate hit and RBI on a pinch-hit opportunity in game two.
- UC San Diego has played six one-run games, winning just two of them. The Tritons run their doubleheader split count to eight times on the year.
- Highlanders' Head Coach Nikki Palmer was a four-year letter-winning catcher under UC San Diego Head Coach Patti Gerckens from 2004-2007. Following graduation, Palmer also served as an assistant coach for the Tritons in 2008.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego and UC Riverside will fight for the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Triton Softball Field. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
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 37 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.
