LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego softball travels to the ASU Invitational hosted through the weekend starting Friday, March 1 through Sunday, March 3. When the Tritons return, they will face University of San Diego in a midweek matchup on Wednesday, March 6.
 
THE MATCHUPS
UC San Diego (3-10) enters the week on their first multi-game win streak after sweeping St. John's in a midweek doubleheader. The Tritons found their bats scoring 13 runs over two games for a team batting average of .364. Deena Pederson led the way going 5-for-7 for a .714 batting average with three runs scored and three batted in. Along with averaging a .750 on-base percentage, the senior stole two bases throughout the day.
 
The Triton pitching staff put together 14 solid innings for a 1.50 staff ERA. Shelby Thompson tossed three shutout innings allowing three hits. India Caldwell went to work for her second complete game and earned her first NCAA DI win in game one. In game two, Caldwell earned her first save as she shut the door on the Red Storm with a shutout seventh inning.
 
North Florida (9-5) enters the invite on a three-game winning streak after sweeping the UNF-JU Classic over the weekend. Hadlee Reichert leads at the plate with a .324 batting average. In the circle, Allison Benning is sporting a 1.52 ERA with a 6-2 record over 46.0 innings of work.
 
Arizona State (11-6) plays host in back-to-back weekends after going 4-2 at the 2024 Sun Devil Classic. Kelsey Hall has appeared in all 17 games and is averaging a .426 batting average at the plate. Mac Osborne is averaging a 3.41 ERA over 41 innings of work with 40 strikeouts tossed.
 
James Madison (10-4) is on a two-game winning streak after going 2-3 at the No. 17 Gamecock Invitational. The Dukes took wins over South Alabama and UMass. Reed Butler has rocketed five homeruns so far this season for a .787 slugging percentage and a .383 batting average. Leading the defense, Alissa Humphrey is sporting a 1.34 ERA with 33 batters fanned.
 
Omaha (10-6) is on a one game winning streak after going 4-1 at the Texas A&M Commerce Tournament. Sydney Ross has batted in 18 runners over her 16 games played and is averaging .417 at the plate. In the circle, Kamryn Meyer has dealt 51 strikeouts in 42.1 innings of work with a 5-3 record.
 
University of San Diego (3-12) returns from Mary Nutter Classic going 1-4 against some top 25 teams. Before meeting the Tritons on Wednesday, March 6, the Toreros will host the San Diego Tournament and will play five games over the weekend. Carly Ruiz is batting a .364 average with six runs scored. Emma Giaime leads the defense in the circle with a 3.56 ERA over 19.2 innings of work.
 
GAME DETAILS

Game 13	Game 14	Game 16
vs. North Florida	vs. Arizona State	vs. James Madison
Tempe, Ariz.	Tempe, Ariz.	Tempe, Ariz.
Farrington Stadium	Farrington Stadium	Farrington Stadium
March 1 | 10:30 am PST	March 1 | 3:30 pm PST	March 2 | 8 am PST
Live Stats	Live Stats | Watch	Live Stats

 

Game 17	Game 18	Game 19
vs. North Florida	vs. Omaha	vs. San Diego
Tempe, Ariz.	Tempe, Ariz.	San Diego, Calif.
Farrington Stadium	Farrington Stadium	USD Softball Complex
March 2 | 10:30 am PST	March 3 | 9:30 am PST	March 6 | 4 pm PST
Live Stats	Live Stats	Live Stats

ABOUT THE TRITONS
Roster | Schedule | Stats
2024 Overall: 3-10
2023 Big West: 9-18
2024 Home: 3-7
2024 Away: 0-0
2024 Neutral: 0-3
Streak: W2
 

ABOUT THE OSPREYS	ABOUT THE SUN DEVILS	ABOUT THE DUKES	ABOUT THE MAVERICKS	ABOUT THE TOREROS
Roster | Sched | Stats	Roster | Sched | Stats	Roster | Sched | Stats	Roster | Sched | Stats	Roster | Sched | Stats
2024 Overall: 9-5	2024 Overall: 11-6	2024 Overall: 10-4	2024 Overall: 10-6	2024 Overall: 3-12
2023 ASUN: 10-13-1	2023 Pac-12: 6-18	2023 SBC: 13-11	2023 SL: 15-5	2023 WAC: 8-7
2024 Home: 9-3	2024 Home: 11-6	2024 Home: 4-0	2024 Home: 0-0	2024 Home: 2-4
2024 Away: 0-2	2024 Away: 0-0	2024 Away: 2-1	2024 Away: 2-2	2024 Away: 0-1
2024 Neutral: 0-0	2024 Neutral: 0-0	2024 Neutral: 4-3	2024 Neutral: 8-4	2024 Neutral: 1-7
Streak: W3	Streak: L1	Streak: W2	Streak: W1	Streak: W1

 
LAST TIME OUT
Hosting St. John's University in midweek doubleheader, the Tritons swept the visitors winning both games in 6-2 and 7-5 decisions.
 
India Caldwell earned her first division one win after pitching a complete game. The right-hander gave up two runs on six hits and fanned six opponents with three walks. At the plate, eight Tritons knocked at least a single hit with Deena Pederson and Gabby Williams going 2-for-3. Pederson scored two runs and batted another two in with Williams plating one and scoring one of her own.

Getting the start in game two, Gabby Williams went to work for three innings fanning a batter and allowing one earned run on five hits. Shelby Thompson came on in as relief to shut out the Red Storm over three innings giving up three hits, but no runs. In the final inning, India Caldwell came back in for the Tritons to shut the door on SJU with a one-two-three inning. At the plate, Deena Pederson was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a runner batted in. On two hits, Lexi O'Gorman batted in two along with Gabby Williams.
 
UP NEXT
UC San Diego continues their eleven-game road stand at the Lance Up Invite beginning on Friday, March 8 and ending Sunday, March 10. The invite will be hosted by Cal Baptist in Riverside, Calif.
 
O'GORMAN EARNS FIRST WEEK CONFERENCE HONORS
On Feb. 12, Lexi O'Gorman was selected as the Big West Freshman Player of the Week after her outstanding five-game homestand at the La Jolla Invitational.
 
In her collegiate weekend debut, the first year started all five games and led the gold and blue at the plate through the invitational. Finishing the weekend with a .400 batting average after going 6-for-15 with five runs batted in, eight total bases, a run scored, and 100% in the field.
 
In her first collegiate at-bat the San Carlos product laced a single to the left side and the hits didn't stop. Against FDU, O'Gorman earned her first collegiate RBI on a sacfly when Gabby Williams scored after her at-bat. With two outs on the board, she then cracked a triple to left field warning track to plate two more runners.
 
Looking to start a comeback against Cal Baptist, O'Gorman stepped up to the plate with two outs on the board and the bases load to lace a single up the middle to score two runs. Her at-bat cut the deficit to 3-2 in the fourth inning.
 
O'Gorman is the fourth Triton to earn Big West of the Freshman of the Week honors and the first Triton to earn conference honors this season.
 

First week honors for ????????! ??
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— UC San Diego Softball (@UCSDsoftball) February 12, 2024

 
2023 RECAP
In the 2023 season, the Tritons finished at 19-33 overall and 9-18 in the Big West. The third season in the Big West proved to be a challenge for the gold and blue as they dropped seven of their nine conference series.
 
Over the course of the season, UC San Diego lost 11 games by one run as the team's batting average dropped from .250 in 2022 to .242 in 2023. Jada Cecil led the Tritons from in the circle with another outstanding year with a 1.97 ERA and 171 strikeouts. The pitching staff combined for 310 strikeouts and a 2.58 ERA.
 
Deena Pederson was on her way to a career season sporting a .398 batting average through 29 games before an injury ended her season early. The outfielder recorded five doubles, two triples, and one homerun. She started the season with a four-game hitting streak and ended her season on a six-game hitting streak.
 
ENG BREAKS PROGRAM SINGLE-GAME RECORD
On March 11, 2023 Morgan Eng stole 6 bases against Harvard University to set the UC San Diego program record for a single game. The sophomore led Division I with that record and finished the season 35-for-36 on the base paths.
 
BIG WEST PRESEASON POLL
The UC San Diego softball team was picked to finish ninth according to the 2024 Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll, as determined by the conference's head coaches. They were awarded 22 points in the poll.
 
TRITONS HEAD TO PUERTO VALLARTA COLLEGE CHALLENGE
UC San Diego softball will be one of eight programs competing in the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge hosted by Triple Crown Sports from Feb. 14-18.
 
Split into two sessions, the Tritons will compete in the second session with Clemson, Auburn, Utah, South Carolina, UC Davis, Wichita State, and Mississippi State. Three of the teams UC San Diego will face finished the 2023 season in the top 25. UC San Diego is one of three Big West schools that will make the trip to Mexico.
 
This is the eighth edition of the event and games will be played at Nancy Almaraz Stadium. All games will be live-streamed by FloSoftball.
 
BALINT BECOMES PITCHING COACH
Head coach Patti Gerckens added Maggie Balint as the team's new pitching coach. 
 
Commenting on Balint's experience, Gerckens said, "She is very knowledgeable both with the mental game as well as the mechanics of pitching. Our pitchers and catchers are already eager to work with her and learn from her."
 
Balint joins the Triton softball staff after a stellar career at Oregon and San Diego State.
 
The right-hander finished her Aztec career with a 43-19 record, 10 saves and a 2.20 ERA in 433 1/3 innings, striking out 504 against 120. In 2022, Balint was named to the first-team All-NFCA West Region and the Mountain West Pitcher of the Year.
 
She earned All-Mountain West honors for three consecutive years and was named MW Pitcher of the week nine times before taking the conference title. In her time as an Aztec, Balint was name all-conference three times and was named to all-NFCA West Region two times.
 
At the University of Oregon, Balint had a 28-4 record helping the Ducks to a 53-10 finish in 2018. In her freshman season, she helped Oregon reach the semifinals of the WCWS and finish with a 54-8 record. In her breakout season, she was 21-3 with a 1.22 ERA and three saves in 126 innings, striking out 152 batters.
 
Balint earned first-team All-Region and All-Pac-12 honors, and being a finalist for the NFCA National Freshman of the Year award, she was one of 34 finalists (and the only freshman) for the USA Softball Player of the Year award. She was also on the Pac-12 All-Freshman team and earned a spot on the NCAA All-Eugene Regional team.
 
Balint majored in interdisciplinary studies at San Diego State and also has a Master's degree in education counseling.
 
SPERL ADDED TO COACHING STAFF
Dan Sperl brings over 10 years of experience to UC San Diego, including time at Big West member Cal State Bakersfield.
 
"I'm excited to remain in the Big West Conference and to work with such a talented, welcoming and committed group of coaches and scholar-athletes," Sperl said, "I'm so impressed with all that this city and campus have to offer our scholar-athletes and am looking forward to playing my small role in what I believe is a very bright future for Triton softball."
 
Sperl joins the Tritons most recently from Cal State Bakersfield where he led the program as the head coach for the 'Runners from 2019 to 2022. During his tenure, Sperl improved the 'Runners in nearly every statistical category including a 40-point improvement in Big West Conference batting average. He also coached two All-League Selections in Karissa Munsey and Savanna Montoya while competing against nation's 57th-toughest strength of schedule.
 
WHO'S BACK?
The team is returning 15 players, six seniors: Teagan Dobson, Zoë Richards, Mariah Melendez, Deena Pederson, Shelby Thompson, and Gabby Williams, four juniors: Marissa Hassis, Alexa DeMarse, Reilly Erickson, and Morgan Eng, five sophomores: Kayleigh Coberly, Lily Hermosillo, Georgia Heathcock, Hailey Mulligan, and Claire Adams.
 
NEW FACES
Joining the team this season are four new additions with three true freshmen: Lexi O'Gorman, Brooklyn Lee, and Jackie Tremper, and one junior transfer: India Caldwell.
 
FOLLOW THE TRITONS
Keep up with the Tritons all season long on social media through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The team's handle is @UCSDsoftball.
 
FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UC San Diego home athletic events, and much more!
 
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 began a new era in 2020 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 earned 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.