LA JOLLA, Calif. – Bobbi Aguirre (3-for-4) and Deena Pederson (2-for-3) produced multi-hit games as the UC San Diego softball team defeated CSUN, 6-3, in the series opener on Friday evening at Triton Softball Field.

With the outcome, the Tritons improve to 12-18 overall and 8-11 in Big West play. The Matadors fall to 5-16 on the season and 3-16 in conference.
 
GAME 1: UC San Diego 6, CSUN 3
Dialed in all game, right-handed starter Kaia Simpson tallied four strikeouts, and surrendered just one hit to the visiting Matadors through three innings of play.
 
The contest remained scoreless after three complete in what appeared to be a pitcher's duel between Simpson and Kendee Jamerson.

CSUN's four-batter Jaymi Steward put her team on the board with a solo shot to right center in the top half of the fourth. 
 
The Tritons answered in their very next plate appearances to sabotage CSUN's pitching change. Pederson kick-started the rally in the fourth frame, doubling over the left fielder off of Eryka Gonzales. UC San Diego then found runners on the corners after a defensive miscue by the third baseman. Kinley Kyro capitalized with a sac fly to plate Pederson, before Gabby Williams scorched a two-RBI shot to deep left center to put her team ahead by three the very next at-bat. 
 
The Tritons added three more to their margin in the fifth. Four hits from Aguirre, Sherriah Harrington, Pederson and Danica Kazakoff put UC San Diego in the driver's seat. The latter three would be credited with RBIs, Harrington's coming by way of a double that found the gap in left. 
   
Simpson would ultimately last through 5.1 innings, before Robyn Wampler entered in relief. On the day, the Seattle, Wash. native scattered four hits, allowing three runs, one earned, to pick up her second win of 2021.
 
The Matadors scraped across two in the top of the sixth after two costly Triton errors. However, it wasn't enough as Wampler kept CSUN off balance for the remainder. The senior lefty added three strikeouts, pushing her total to 70 on the season.
 
QUOTABLE
"I think we played together as a team tonight," said sophomore Kaia Simpson. "We leaned on one another to push through any struggles and adversity. Out on the mound, I trusted my defense and knew that they would make plays behind me. Overall, it was a great team win."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• The victory marks UC San Diego's first win over the Matadors in series history. CSUN remains in the lead, 1-5. 
• Simpson's six strikeouts were both a season- and career-best for the sophomore.
• Wampler picked up her first save of the year, remaining atop the UC San Diego record books with 15 overall. 
• Williams has accumulated 10 hits in a Triton uniform and five of them are home runs. 
• From behind the plate, Kyro threw out base stealers five and six on Friday evening.
• Pederson stole her second and third bases back-to-back in the bottom of the fifth.

UP NEXT
UC San Diego and CSUN will fight for the series on Saturday afternoon in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. at Triton Softball Field. The contests will be broadcast on ESPN3. Prior to warm-ups, UC San Diego will recognize its five graduating seniors: Danica Kazakoff, Trudie Nixon, Sherriah Harrington, Robyn Wampler and Vanessa Tirado. 
 
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.