LA JOLLA, Calif. – Avoiding the sweep on Saturday afternoon at Triton Softball Field, UC San Diego's
Morgan Eng hit a walk-off single to win the finale over UC Santa Barbara in a 4-3 result.
India Caldwell got the start in the finale allowing three runs on six hits while striking out two over five innings of work.
Callie Christian came on in relief to secure the victory holding the Gauchos scoreless with no hits over two innings.
Leading at the plate,
Alexa DeMarse went 2-for-3 with a run scored and two more batted in. Adding her bat,
Elise Nishimura was perfect at the plate and scored the game-winning run.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC Santa Barbara struck in the first and third innings to go up 3-0 into the sixth.
Starting the rally in the bottom of the sixth,
Haley Garcia hit a single to become the leadoff runner.
Jaden Hill then knocked double to left field after battling a eight-pitch at bat and the speedy Garcia scored from first, 3-1. A no-doubter over the left field fence from
Alexa DeMarse brought the Tritons even at 3-3.
After two Gauchos reached in the top of the seventh, closer Callie Chrisitan struck out one and forced a ground out to end the inning still tied.
Elise Nishimura laced a single to left field and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With two outs on the board and an 0-2 count,
Morgan Eng slashed a single to left field and Nishimura was able to make it home to walk it off.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will travel to UC Davis for a three-game series beginning Aprill 11 with a doubleheader set for 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. The series will wrap on April 12 in a single game matchup with first pitch at 12 p.m. All three games will be live on ESPN+ with live statistics available on UCSDTritons.com.
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 84 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 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Divisions I and II.
