USD Catcher Shawnese Hogue-Lacy sliding into second base versus UC San Diego April 15. Miguel Mejia / Miguel Mejia Photography
SAN DIEGO - University of San Diego’s (16-25, 3-6 WCC) softball team fell to the UC San Diego Tritons (18-22, 7-11 Big West) Wednesday night 7-3 at the Reggie Smith Softball Complex. The Toreros extended their losing streak to seven games, facing the challenge of excellent hitters in UC San Diego.
Starting pitcher Kaitlyn Bartlow pitched three full innings, but after a home run by UC San Diego’s Maalia Cherry in the top of the third and a triple to right field in the top of the fourth that allowed three more runs to make the score 4-1, USD pitcher Alex Riggs entered the circle in the fourth inning.
The Toreros attempted to gain momentum back up with a shutout inning in the top of the fifth. A flyout caught by center fielder Kaylee Oh, a ground out to Taylor Johnson (first base), and a lineout up the middle put out by shortstop Michelle Delgado was USD’s best defensive inning yet. In the bottom of the fifth, back-to-back-to-back singles by right fielder Kaitlyn Wynia, Mallory Axline (second base), and T. Johnson led to Wynia scoring the team’s second run. Axline scored a third run on Abrielle Diaz’s sacrifice fly, continuing USD’s possible comeback and making the score 5-3. The top of the sixth showcased USD’s defensive potential: A throw from catcher Shawnese Hogue-Lacy to Axline caught UC San Diego’s runner attempting to steal second, followed by Riggs striking out two consecutive batters to end the inning.
USD Pitcher Alex Riggs. Miguel Mejia / Miguel Mejia Photography
“It's just pitch by pitch,” Riggs said in a postgame interview. “I'm just trying to focus on the batter ahead, even if there's runners on, and coming in mid-inning, just trying to shut it down, stop the bleeding, as we would say.”
The Tritons scored three more runs in the top of the seventh off of a double to right center field to go up 7-3. The Toreros could not rally in the bottom of the inning, and the game ended with UC San Diego extending their winning streak to six games in a row.
“We were attacking early in the count and we knew what the pitchers were throwing,” Wynia said postgame. “We just stayed calm and collected, and although we didn't get the result that we were wanting, it's just leaning on those little successes.”
The Toreros are back home on Thursday at 5 p.m. to cap off a trio of non-conference games versus the University of Hawaii.
Top Photo: UC San Diego’s Maalia Cherry homered in the third inning. Credit: Miguel Mejia/Miguel Mejia Photography
