UCSD Softball Team Earns Its First CCAA Crown

The No. 10 UC San Diego softball team, behind pitching ace Camile Gaito, clinched its first California Collegiate Athletic Association regular-season title in program history with a pair of wins over Cal State East Bay on Friday afternoon at Pioneer Softball Field.

The Tritons won the opener 12-2 and the nightcap 2-1.  Gaito (25-2) worked the final 2.1 innings of game two, earning her second win of the day after taking over for starter Jenn Manuel (2-3). She struck out five of the nine batters she faced.

In game one, Gaito worked six innings while giving up two runs on three hits and striking out six. Freshman pinch-hitter Charly Swanberg came through with a two-out, two-run single scoring fellow freshmen Mya Romero and Emily McQuaid with the tying and game-winning runs in the sixth inning of game two.

On Saturday the Tritons team split its final two games of the season with Cal State East Bay, falling to the Pioneers, 11-3, before using a two-out rally in the top of the ninth to take a 4-1 win in the final game of the series. In that second game, Gaito set a career high with 12 strikeouts while limiting the Pioneers to a single run and eight hits in nine innings of work.

UCSD (34-11 overall, 22-9 CCAA)  will open the 2011 CCAA Championships against fourth-seeded Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday at 4:30 p.m. in Arnaiz Stadium in Stockton.

CSUDH was the only team to take a series from UCSD throughout the regular season, as the Toros dropped the Tritons in three of four contests at Toro Softball Diamond, March 11-12.

Sonoma State and Chico State will square off in the other first round game of the double elimination event.

For her weekend efforts Gaito earned the Worth/California Collegiate Athletic Association Pitcher of the Week. The honor marks the fourth time this season she has been honored. She also earned CCAA Pitcher of the Week for the week of Feb. 21-27, March 28-Apr. 3 and April 4-10.

Gaito earned the victory in all three of her appearances over the weekend in Turlock, increasing her overall record to 25-2 this season, the third-most victories in a single-season in school history. She gave up just three earned runs and limited opposing hitters to a .206 batting average.

Four Tritons scored multiple times and six UCSD players had a multiple hits in Friday's opening affair, as UCSD exploded for a season-high 16 hits and matched a season-high with 12 runs.

The Tritons’ 34 wins during the regular season matches the school record (for Division II) and the team set a school record for the highest win-percentage (.755) since the school moved to Division II in 2001.

The Tritons’ 22 conference victories matches a school record (2004) and the team’s win percentage (.710) in the CCAA is a program-best since UCSD joined the conference in 2001. UCSD, who was picked to finish fifth in the CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll released on Jan. 25, will make its third appearance in this weekend’s CCAA Championships and first since 2009.

In 2009, UCSD advanced to the CCAA championship game against Cal State Monterey Bay, however, the game was cancelled due to inclement weather.

BASEBALL

The 16th-ranked UC San Diego baseball team improved to 30-12 on the season and ran its winning streak to nine straight as it overwhelmed Academy of Art 15-1 and 12-2 in weekend games at Triton Ballpark.

Tim Shibuya threw four perfect innings on Friday night and gave up one run on two hits, en route to improving to 8-3 on the season. He struck out four and walked none, the fifth straight start he has not surrendered any free passes.

 
UCSD’s three and four hitters had a field day at the plate. First baseman K.C. Rentfro, playing in his first game since Apr. 2, went 3-for-3 with a run and four RBI from the cleanup spot. Designated hitter Nick La Face was 3-for-6 with four runs and two RBI.

Both players homered - Rentfro a two-run bomb to left in the fourth and La Face a solo shot to left in the seventh.
 
Also finishing with two hits for the Tritons was second baseman Matt Hubbard and shortstop Garrett Tuck.
 
The Tritons continued their potent offensive attack Saturday with an 18-hit attack in a 12-2 win.

UC San Diego out-scored Academy of Art 27-3 in the series. Over its last three games, the Tritons have scored 45 runs on 52 hits. Of the 52, 20 have gone for extra bases.
 
Starter Guido Knudson (6-3) gave up an unearned run and no hits while striking out three in three innings of work. Six other Tritons combined to finish the game on a staff day and surrendered just one run on four hits over six innings. Justin Burns and Eric Abraham each struck out two Urban Knights.
 
Triton pitchers have let in just eight total runs (six earned) over the last 52 innings, good for a 1.04 ERA. They've totaled 45 strikeouts and eight walks over the span.
 
UCSD banged out nine extra base hits, including six doubles, a triple and two home runs. It was the third straight game that the Tritons have launched two home runs in. Seven of nine Tritons in the starting lineup had hits and a total of 10 players accounted for the team's total.
 
In his first collegiate start, right fielder Scott Like was 2-for-3 with a run and three RBI. A redshirt freshman, Liske cracked his first career home run, a two-run job to right in the second inning that put UCSD up 5-1.
 
Senior infielder Grant Bauer had a day for the Tritons, finishing 3-for-4 with a run and three RBI. He also figured in the second inning scoring as his single plated the first two runs of the frame.
 
Designated hitter Nick La Face continued his torrid pace with three hits, two of them doubles, and a RBI. He went 6-for-11 (.545) with four runs and three RBI over the two games against the Urban Knights. La Face has multiple hits in his last four games and leads the Tritons with his .385 batting average.

Third baseman Evan Kehoe, catcher Michael Benton and pinch hitter/first baseman Jack Heidelman all had two hits apiece. Benton scored three runs, knocked in two and walked twice. The senior hit his first home run of the season in the sixth, giving UCSD two runs and a 9-1 lead.

 Heidelman, a true freshman who entered the game with no hits in just six career at-bats, had an RBI triple in the seventh and followed that with a double in the eighth.
 
Returning to California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) action this week, UCSD plays four critical games at league-leading Chico State Apr. 29 through May 1. The Tritons currently sit in second place in the CCAA with a 21-11 record. Chico is first at 20-8, while Sonoma State is third with a 19-12 mark.

MEN’S TENNIS

Coach Eric Steidlmayer’s men’s tennis team peeled off four dual match victories last weekend to conclude a perfect regular season (20-0) and now it’s off to the NCAA Championships.

The 10th-ranked Tritons will travel to Altamonte Springs, FL, May 11-14 for the 16-team national tourney as the top seed from the West Region.

UCSD began its final run to perfection with a 6-3 home victory over Point Loma last Tuesday.

The Tritons took two of three doubles matches but needed to win four three-setters in singles to emerge on top. Erik Elliott at No. 1 registered the clincher while Austin West and Max Jiganti, at Nos. 5-6 bounced back from first set losses to gain points.

Steidlmayer's netters claimed their final three wins at Sonoma, stopping Hawaii-Hilo and Grand Canyon by identical, 5-4, margins and then crushing host Sonoma State, 8-1

Against UHH, the Tritons picked up a doubles win from the tandem of Armaun Emami and Jiganti and then the same quartet that prevailed in singles vs. Point Loma--Elliott, Vincent Nguyen, West and Jiganti--turned the trick again

UCSD went up 2-1 in doubles against Grand Canyon before West and Jiganti earned straight set singles conquests and junior Chapman Chan sewed it up with a three-set win at No. 2

 The Tritons swept doubles against Sonoma State and cruised from there.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

The 17th-ranked UC San Diego women's tennis team wrapped up its regular season on a high note Thursday, defeating Sonoma State, 7-2, at the Northview Tennis Courts.
 
UCSD swept the doubles matches and won four of the six singles contests to improve to 10-8 on the year. SSU dropped to 11-9.
 
Senior Cindy Dao won both of her matches for the Tritons. She partnered with sophomore Jacquelyn Davis in the No. 2 doubles match to defeat Sonoma's Dana Carollo and Haley Hickock, 8-6. She later downed Anastasia Eliseeva, 6-1 and 6-0, at No. 2 singles.
 
Senior Taskeen Bains and freshman Haley Perrotte won the No. 1 doubles match over Eliseeva and Megan White, 8-0. Senior Roxanna Pourmirzaie and junior Samantha Yeung completed the doubles sweep, downing Stephanie Hoffmire and Brooke McBride, 8-4.
 
Perrotte, Yeung and Davis were also double winners. Perrotte defeated White in three sets at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 6-7 and 10-6. Yeung was victorious in her No. 4 singles tilt, beating Hoffmire in straight sets, 6-0 and 6-2. At No. 6, Davis didn't give up a game, blanking Katya Welborn, 6-0, 6-0.

TRACK & FIELD

UC San Diego track and field teams had another strong showing on their home track on Saturday, posting several impressive marks against top-notch competition on the second and final day of the 2011 Triton Invitational.
 
Ka Wai Ng and AB Shaheen posted top-five marks and registered NCAA qualifiers for UCSD on the day, while senior Jesse Morrill recorded an individual victory in the 3000-meter steeplechase. The Tritons also claimed a win in the women's 4x400 relay.
 
All in all, it was a great day for UCSD student-athletes, who faced off against fields that featured past Olympians, world record holders and collegians from several different levels.
 
Ng, a junior transfer from Hong Kong, China, had one of the biggest highlights of the day for the Tritons, finishing third overall in the invitational section of the men’s triple jump. His jump of 48'0.75" was good enough for a NCAA provisional qualifier and ranks No. 2 all-time in the UCSD record books behind Scott Tsuda's mark of 48'10.75 in 2009.
 
UC Riverside's Ryan Swafford won the event with a big jump of 50'7.25", while Marcellus Golliday finished second at 48'9".
 
Shaheen also collected a NCAA provisional qualifier for the Triton men with another strong performance in the hammer throw. One week after setting the Lebanese national record with a toss of 183'7" at the Soka Peace Invitational, the junior from Trabuco Canyon bettered that mark with a throw of 186'5" on Saturday. He finished sixth in the event behind five Division I athletes.
 
Morrill came through with a big run in the steeplechase, posting a first place time of 9:20.69. While it wasn't his fastest time of the season, he did beat out the rest of the field by nearly eight full seconds.
 
On the women's side, Lauren Irish, Jacqueline Rose, Deyna Roberson and Caitlin Meagher teamed up to post the top time in the women's 4x400 at 3:47.12, which was just a touch better than UC Santa Barbara's group.
 
The women's 4x100 unit of Bailey Weaver, Kathleen Hitchens, Jacqueline Rose and Kelly Fogarty finished fifth overall in their relay, picking up a provisional qualifier with a time of 46.68 along the way. The Brazilian national team was competing in the event and won it at 44.78.
 
Fogarty had a great effort in the 200 invitational as well, finishing second to Brazil's Lemos Silva with a time of 23.69. Another member of the Brazilian national team, Silva clocked in at 23.44.
 
Fogarty also took part in the 100, placing fourth at 11.64.
 
There were several other noteworthy performances from non-UCSD athletes on the day, including Dylan Armstrong's Canadian national record in the men's shot put at 71'3.25".
 
The top three performances in the women's shot put on Saturday are currently the best three marks in the world in the event. Germany's Nadine Kleinert, an Olympic Silver medalist, beat out Sarah Stevens-Walker, who was competing unattached, and Arizona's Julie Labonte.
 
There was also a great competition in the men's discus as the top three competitors all finished within two feet of each other. The Netherlands' Erik Cadee won with a toss of 213'2", a mark that ranks fifth in the world this year.
 
The Tritons will now take next week off to prepare for the 2011 California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships, which are scheduled for May 5-7 on the campus of Cal State Stanislaus in Turlock. UCSD finished second on both the men and women's sides at the conference meet in 2010.

WOMEN’S WATER POLO

The UC San Diego women’s water polo team fell to crosstown rival No. 9 San Diego State 15-7 in the annual Harper Cup on Friday afternoon at the Aztec Aquaplex.

The rivalry recognizes the influence of current UCSD Men's Coach Denny Harper on the development of both programs.

Sarah Lizotte got her sixth straight hat trick to lead the Tritons. She has led the team in scoring in each of the last eight contests.
 
Allie Taylor recorded eight saves in the loss, as the Tritons finish the season at 14-18 overall. SDSU ends its season with a 20-12 mark.
 
Earlier this week, UCSD was granted the No. 2 seed for the Western Water Polo Association Championships, April 29 - May 1 in Hayward, by virtue of the Tritons’ 9-1 record against conference opponents.

UCSD finished second to No. 8 Loyola Marymount, which went 11-0 against WWPA foes.

The Tritons will open the tournament on Friday, Apr. 29 against the seventh seed, Cal State Bakersfield. UCSD is 2-0 against CSUB this season, having taken down the Roadrunners, 13-10 and 14-11, on February 27 and March 11, respectively.
 
The UCSD-CSUB winner will face the winner of Santa Clara-Sonoma State at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 30, with the victor heading for Sunday’s title match at 1:30 p.m. UCSD finished runner-up to LMU at the 2010 WWPA Championships.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

UC San Diego men's volleyball player Phil Bannan has been named to the All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Second Team.

Bannan recently completed his collegiate career as one of the most prolific players to ever suit up for the Tritons.
 
A senior setter, Bannan broke UCSD records for career assists and service aces, both against Pepperdine in February. He finished with 4,399 assists and 110 aces, more than any player in school history. This season, Bannan registered at least 40 assists eight times and had at least 30 in 21 matches. He had a career-high five aces at UC Irvine in January and 14 times he had multiple aces in a match.
 
After breaking the two records, Bannan was named a San Diego Hall of Champions Star of the Month for February.
 
The Newport Beach native totaled 277 blocks, tying him for third on UCSD's all-time list. He also collected 522 career digs, which ranks fifth all-time at UC San Diego.
 
Bannan recorded a pair of double-doubles in 2011 with 35 assists and 10 digs vs. Cal State Northridge on Feb. 19 and a season-high 66 assists and 10 digs at Pepperdine on March 12.
 
For the season, he averaged 9.84 assists, .51 service aces, 1.24 digs, .63 blocks and 1.53 points per set. On the national level, he currently ranks second in aces per set and 23rd in assists per set.
 
Bannan was an All-MPSF Honorable Mention selection in 2009 as a sophomore and 2010 as a junior. He's the first second team selection since libero Eric Leserman earned the honor in 2007.
 
“Phil has been, if not the best, one of the best we've ever had in our program,” said UCSD head coach Kevin Ring. “It's no surprise that the success we've had over the past few years has coincided with him being our starting setter.”
 
Senior opposite Murphy Troy of top-ranked USC was tabbed the MPSF Player of the Year. In addition, the Trojans' Bill Ferguson was named the Coach of the Year. Outside hitter Taylor Sander of BYU picked up Freshman of the Year honors.

MEN’S CREW

 In search of both the points and efficiency trophies, Coach Zach Johnson's men's crew heads to Sacramento's Lake Natoma this weekend for the annual Western Intercollegiate Rowing Assn. (WIRA) Championships.

The Tritons will enter five boats--varsity eight, two junior varsity eights, novice eight and varsity four--in the 10-race regatta.

Top competition for Johnson's rowers in a tightly-packed field would appear to be Washington State, UCLA and UC Irvine.

The Triton varsity eight settled for sixth place at this race last year after having difficulty dealing with windy conditions.

WOMEN’S CREW

Aiming for its first trip to the NCAA Division II Championships since 2008, Coach Pattie Pinkerton's women's rowing team will square off against the top D-II teams in the West this weekend at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships on Sacramento's Lake Natoma.

In addition to the varsity eight and varsity four boats that are critical to the NCAA bid, Pinkerton will be launching a lightweight eight, lightweight four, novice eight and novice four at the WIRA regatta.

Gaining speed and confidence over the past several outings, the V-8 and V-4 will face 13 and 10 rivals respectively in Saturday's prelims which will set-up the next day's six-crew finals.

Defending NCAA runner-up Western Washington figures to be the heavy favorite with Humboldt State and Seattle Pacific also in the mix.

Pinkerton's belief is that a strong showing by the four coupled with at least a second place finish by the eight could be enough to lift the Tritons into NCAA consideration.

GOLF

Following an excellent 2010-11 senior campaign, Keith Okasaki will once again represent the UC San Diego men's golf team in the NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships.
  
Okasaki will be one of eight individuals competing in the Central/West Regional May 2-4 at the Championships Course at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

Okasaki heads to postseason play for the third year in a row after leading the Tritons with 33 rounds played and a stroke average of 75.4 this season.
 
In March, he recorded his highest finish of the year when he shot 10-over-par 223 to place third overall at the 61st Annual Southern California Intercollegiate. He went to finish 16th at the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational in early April, before finishing 11th at the CCAA Championships last week in Paso Robles.
  
Okasaki carded his best round of the season with a 70 to kick off the conference championships and eventually finished at 1-over par 217 for the tournament.

A native of Sacramento, Okasaki will join Cal State Dominguez Hills' Ryan Indovina and Troy Davis and Ryan Sheffer of Notre Dame de Namur as the four individuals to represent the West Region in Albuquerque.

A total of five teams from the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) were named to the 10-team West Regional field, including two-time conference champion Cal State Monterey Bay, Chico State, Sonoma State, Cal State Stanislaus and Cal State San Bernardino. Rounding out the field are Western Washington, Grand Canyon, Dixie State, Saint Martin's and Pacific West Conference Champion Hawaii Hilo.

Western New Mexico University will serve as the host institution for the Central/West Regional site.

The top five teams and the top two individuals from each regional will advance to the finals May 16-20 at The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at The Shoals in Florence, AL. The finals will be hosted by the University of North Alabama.

The only individual from UCSD to qualify for regional competition in 2010, Okasaki finished tied for 65th place at 16-over 232 at the Classic Club in Palm Desert.

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