Toros Suffer Sweep at Hands of UC San Diego Softball Team, 10-0 and 6-3
March 3, 2007

Complete Box Scores »» Game 1    Game 2

Carson, CA -- Visiting UC San Diego used a combination of pitcher Melissa Ward, small ball and one big stroke to take 10-0 and 6-3 victories over the Toros this afternoon on Toro Diamond. With the losses, CSUDH falls to 10-8, 3-3 CCAA, while UCSD improves to 12-12, 7-3 CCAA.

Triton pitcher Ward was the story of game one, fanning the first five Toros she faced en route to a sizzling 10-strikeout, 1-hit performance. Ward faced just 16 batters in 5 innings as Michelle Medina (Lakewood, CA/St. Joseph HS) was the only Toro player to reach base, stroking a 1-1 single to left in the 2nd inning.

Offensively, after two dropped balls gave UCSD two unearned runs after 3 innings, the Tritons put up two runs in the 4th on an RBI single by Randelle Bundy and an RBI double by Danielle Lukk, and a whopping six runs one inning later to put the game away. In the pivotal 5th, UCSD sent 11 batters to the plate and connected for nine singles to increase its lead to 10-0, where it ended as the Toros went quietly in their bottom half of the 5th.

Things looked better in the nightcap after CSUDH took an early lead on an Araceli Martinez (Downey, CA/Warren HS) sacrifice fly in the 1st to give them their first run of the day. After the Tritons answered with a run in the 4th, the Toros responded with two runs in their at-bat as an Erika Gonzalez (Los Angeles, CA/Bishop Amat HS) fielder’s choice and a Jodi Nakawatase (Long Beach, CA/Millikan HS) RBI single increased CSUDH’s lead to 3-1.

UCSD answered with a run in the 6th, and was down to its final two outs in the 7th when the Tritons completed their comeback. After a Lukk one-out single, Brittni Carino won the full count battle against Toro hurler Jennifer Martinez (La Habra, CA/Cal State Long Beach) by inducing a pivotal walk. After Nicole Saari reached base on a fielder’s choice one batter later, clean-up hitter Jenny Maze took Martinez’s first offering and sent it well over the left field wall to give the Tritons their first lead of the day. After the second CSUDH error of the game, May sent a double to left center to bring home Jenni Habib for the final run of the contest.

Nakawatase and Jennifer Frazier (Buena Park, CA/John F. Kennedy HS) led CSUDH with two hits apiece, while Carino enjoyed a 4-for-7 afternoon in the UCSD sweep. Martinez picked up both losses (10-8) while Ward earned the two wins (9-4) after relieving Triton starter Christine Zankich in the 4th inning.

CSUDH resumes play tomorrow as 4th-ranked Humboldt State pays Toro Diamond a visit for a non-conference double header, with first pitch of game one scheduled for 1 pm.