Tritons Closing In on Conference Baseball Title

The UC San Diego baseball team cushioned its lead in the league and completed a four-game series sweep of Chico State with a tight 11-10 victory Sunday at Nettleton Stadium for its 13th straight victory. No. 7 UCSD, which entered the series a game behind 20th-ranked Chico State for first place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), now owns a three-game lead in the hunt for the regular season title.
 
The Tritons are 34-12 overall and 25-12 in the CCAA.The Wildcats, losers of their last five, fell to 27-14 overall and 21-13 in the conference.
  
On Friday in the series opener Tim Shibuya (9-3) struck out nine and Danny Susdorf had four hits as the Tritons beat Chico State, 9-3.
  
On Saturday Guido Knudson (7-3) tossed a complete game for a 9-1 win in the opener and reliever Daniel Simmons shut down a late inning rally to give the Tritons a narrow 6-5 victory in the nightcap. Reliever Elias Tuma got the win and improved to 5-0 on the season.

Simmons got the save on Sunday. In that game first baseman Blake Tagmyer went 2-for-5, including a home run with two runs and three RBI. Right fielder Kyle Saul  scored two runs and hit his second home run of the season, going back-to-back with Tagmyer in the second.
  
UCSD closes out its regular season this week against Cal State San Bernardino. Triton Ballpark will host the first two games under the lights on Thursday and Friday at 6 p.m. On Saturday, the two teams move to Fiscalini Field in San Bernardino for a doubleheader starting at noon.

WOMEN'S WATER POLO

The UC San Diego women's water polo team earned one of four automatic bids to this weekend’s NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship by virtue of its 13-11 come-from-behind win over No. 8 Loyola Marymount in the Western Water Polo Association conference tournament title game on Sunday afternoon.

Sarah Lizotte led all scorers with four goals while tournament MVP Hanalei Crowell and Jessica Tran each recorded a hat trick. Allie Taylor recorded seven saves in goal. Neither team led by more than a goal until the final quarter.
 
The Tritons spoiled the Lions' quest for a third consecutive championship. LMU won the title in 2009 and then went on to take down UCSD in the 2010 edition.
 
“Beating LMU to win this championship was really special,” said UCSD head coach Brad Kreutzkamp. “They have been so dominant and had a 37-match conference winning streak coming in. It was very sweet to be able to break that run.”

The Lions led 9-7 and 10-8 in the final stanza, but UCSD scored three unanswered to take an 11-10 lead.
 
Kimberly Benedetti evened the score for LMU, but Crowell scored the game-winner with 1:59 to play and Katherine Biehle added another on their way to a two-goal victory.
 
Crowell, Bates and Lizotte were WWPA First Team selections while Natalie Peng was placed on the Second Team.

The seventh-seeded Tritons (17-18) will face Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament champion, No. 2 Cal (24-4), on Friday, May 13 at noon in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Fifth-seed UC Irvine (21-8, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) and sixth-seed Indiana (25-11, College Water Polo Association) were the other two automatic qualifiers.
 
Stanford, UCLA and USC received at-large bids to this year’s NCAA Championship.

Stanford (25-1) received the tournament's overall top seed, even after dropping its' only match of the season to the third-seed, UCLA (24-6), in the MPSF semifinals. Stanford will play the winner of Iona (MAAC) and Redlands (SCIAC), who have a play-in game on May 7 to determine the eight-seed.
 
UCSD is 11-7 all-time against Cal. The Bears took down the Tritons in the most recent contests between the two squads, 17-5, on April 11, 2010. Cal has won 12 of its last 13 contests.

In its opening round WWPA tournament match, UCSD topped Cal State Bakersfield for the third time this season 11-7 and then beat Santa Clara, 9-7, to get to the title game.LaMotte recorded her seventh consecutive hat trick in the win over Cal State Bakersfield while Bates and Beetle added two goals apiece. Felicia Orozco dished-out three assists and Hanalei Crowell swiped five steals. Allie Taylor registered 10 saves in goal.

 Bates registered a game-high four goals, one in each quarter in the win against Santa Barbara. Lizotte notched a pair of goals while Hanalei Crowell, Felicia Orozco and Katherine Biehle rounded-out the Triton scoring with a goal apiece.

SOFTBALL

The No. 8 UC San Diego softball team fell to Sonoma State 1-0 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association championship game on Sunday afternoon at Arnaiz Field in Stockton.

SSU ace Samantha Lipperd (25-8) held the Tritons hitless, out-dueling Camille Gaito (26-4), who gave up just five hits and a solo home run to SSU's Brittany Martinez in the second inning.

Lipperd forced UCSD to leave eight runners on base, getting herself out of many jams including a bases-loaded threat in the third inning.

UCSD (36-13) went 2-2 at this year's tournament, falling to SSU (36-20) two times in as many days. The Seawolves, now back-to-back CCAA tournament champions, have won seven straight CCAA tournament games dating back to last season. It was also the second no-hitter for Lipperd this season and the fourth of her career. 

As of Sunday, UCSD was the top-ranked team in the West Region and will likely have one of the higher seeds in this weekend’s West Regional at a site still to be determined. The Tritons will be making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2009.

Jennifer De Fazio, Sarah Woofter and Gaito were named to the CCAA All-Tournament Team.

Gaito threw her third complete-game two-hitter and senior Kris Lesovsky homered to lead the Tritons to  a 2-0 win over  Cal State Dominguez Hills Friday in the opening game of the 2011 CCAA) Softball Tournament at Arnaiz Stadium in Stockton.

On Saturday, UCSD lost to Sonoma State, 5-2,  in its opening game in the winner's bracket as the Seawolves racked-up 14 hits.

In its second game, the Tritons outlasted Cal State Dominguez Hills, 6-2, to earn a ticket to the CCAA Championship against Sonoma State. UCSD had to beat SSU twice on Sunday to win the conference title.

The Tritons captured three individual All-CCAA softball awards as junior e Gaito was tabbed Pitcher of the Year, Mya Romero was named Freshman of the Year and Patti Gerckens was selected Coach of the Year.

Gaito, along with senior centerfielder Kris Lesovsky, was also an All-CCAA First Team selection. Romero was tabbed to the All-CCAA Second Team, along with senior third baseman, Sarah Woofter. This season marks the third time since 2007 UCSD has had four players named to an All-CCAA squad in the same year.

A year after winning Co-CCAA Pitcher of the Year honors in 2010, Gaito has posted a 26-4 overall record, 0.53 ERA and 21 complete games in 2011. In 173 innings, she has recorded 142 strikeouts and limited opposing batters to a .179 average.

She leads the CCAA in ERA and wins, in addition to holding the second-lowest ERA in NCAA Division II. She has eight shutouts and has recorded double-digit strikeout totals twice this season. She struck-out a career high 12 batters over nine innings in her latest start on April 23.

Romero has put together a solid rookie campaign and she is one of two Tritons to start all 45 games this season. She is hitting .321 with 27 runs, 12 doubles and 23 RBI. She leads the Tritons with nine multiple-hit games this year, matching Lesovsky for a team-high 42 hits. Romero is the only UCSD player to record four RBI in a single game (March 5 vs. Humboldt State) and she accounted for a season-high seven total bases against Notre Dame de Namur on Feb. 4.

UCSD has placed a freshman on the Second Team for the second straight year after Nicole Spangler’s selection in 2010.

For Lesovsky, who comes into this postseason as UCSD’s all-time leader in career batting average (.407) and walks (105), it is the third consecutive season that she has been selected to the All-CCAA First Team. The leadoff hitter, Lesovsky leads the Tritons in runs (37), doubles (15), homeruns (5), total bases (72), walks (38) and slugging percentage (.567) in 2011. She is tied for first in school history with 48 doubles, and third and fourth in school history with 123 runs and 182 hits, respectively. She has also garnered All-American and All-West Region honors in each of the last two seasons.

Woofter has recorded five multiple-hit games and three multiple-RBI games in 2011. She recorded a seven-game hit-streak between March 4-12 and has hit .387 (12-for-31) with eight runs, three RBI, three stolen bases since April 8. Woofter has been hit by a pitch 31 times in her career, more than any current UCSD player. She is 10th in UCSD annals with 273 career assists and leads the current Triton squad with 84 helpers this season from the left side of the infield.

Gerckens guided UCSD to a school record .755 winning percentage and matched a school record with 34 wins (for Division II) during the regular season. The Tritons' 22 conference victories match the school record (2004) and the team's win percentage (.710) in the CCAA is a program-best since UCSD joined the conference in 2001. Gerckens is 474-431 (.524) over her 19 seasons at the helm.

MEN’S CREW

The UC San Diego men's crew team put together a complete effort on the final day of the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships on Sunday and came away with the conference title.

Two of out of UCSD's four boats racing in grand finals recorded first place finishes on Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif.

The Tritons claimed first place in both the varsity eight and junior varsity eight finals. The novice eight took third while the second junior varsity boat finished fourth in their race.
 
UCSD's varsity eight boat beat out Gonzaga and UCLA by a boat's length for the win. The junior varsity ‘A' boat was in third halfway through the race and was able to cross the finish line in front of the rest field, which included second-place Orange Coast College and third-place Gonzaga.

After a bad start, the Tritons' novice eight was able to get into a tight pack with OCC and Gonzaga. It was a neck-and-neck race that came right down to the wire, with the Pirates taking the crown. The Bulldogs would finish second followed by the Tritons in third.

Zach Johnson was named WIRA Coach of the Year for the third year in a row following a strong final day of competition from his charges. With the conference title under their belts, the Tritons will advance to the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championships June 2-4 in Camden, N.J.

It will be just the second time in program history that UCSD has advanced to the national championships.

WOMEN’S CREW

The UC San Diego women's crew program capped off its season with the final day of the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships on Sunday.

 Day two of the conference regatta featured races by the varsity eight, novice four and lightweight four for the Tritons.

On Saturday, the varsity eight managed to advance to the petite final. The novice four advanced to the grand final with a third place finish on day one and the lightweight four was placed directly into the grand final.
 
The varsity eight finished fourth in the petite final with a time of 7:06.4. The Tritons clocked in less than 10 seconds behind first place UC Santa Barbara, which won it at 6:56.6. UCSD finish ahead of the University of Colorado, Sonoma State and Chapman and placed tenth overall.
 
The novice four put forth a performance that went down as UCSD's best in the event in nearly ten years. After finishing third in their heat Saturday, they took part in the grand final on Sunday and crossed the finish in fourth place. The Tritons defeated boats from San Diego State and Cal, while five-time champion Western Washington took the crown.
 
UCSD's last boat on Sunday was the lightweight four. That group advanced directly to the grand final where they came in fourth place.
 
 The weekend concluded the 2010-11 campaign for the Tritons as they did not qualify for the NCAA Rowing Championships.  

--Compiled from press releases issued by the UCSD sports information office