Never say die Gauchos win two more elimination softball games to reach Big West Final
Mike Klan
FULLERTON, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Softball team (32-24, 17-10 Big West) is just two games away from winning their first ever Big West Championship after running the gauntlet in the elimination bracket. The Gauchos won both elimination games against the Tritons and Rainbow Wahine to reach The Big West Championship Final.
GAME ONE: GAUCHOS 11, TRITONS 7After losing to UC San Diego in the opening round, the Gauchos came out swinging in the rematch. Malaya Johnson started the game by working around a pair of walks in a scoreless top of the first. Two runs batted in by Elicia Acosta (single) and Delaina Ma’ae (bases loaded walk) then gave the Gauchos an immediate 2-0 advantage. It was nearly 6-0, but Emily Carr’s bases loaded, two-out fly out was caught just shy of the center field wall.
Nonetheless, the Gauchos quickly made it 6-0 anyway. In the bottom of the second, Tehya Banks’ RBI single plated another run before Acosta’s double drove in two more. In the next at bat, San Diego threw the ball away twice attempting to double off Acosta on a line out, allowing her to score Santa Barbara’s sixth run.
Johnson earned a swinging strikeout and a fly out to escape a bases loaded, one-out jam in the third. In the fourth, a Triton two-out, two-run homer brought the score to 6-2. The Gauchos immediately countered with a grand slam off the bat of Ma’ae, a line drive that was just high enough and just stayed fair, blowing the game open to 10-2 Santa Barbara.
The Tritons tacked on two in the fifth to extend the game. In the home half, Alexa Sams drove in a run to make it 11-4. After recording an out, Sam Stoll relieved Johnson—giving the starter some much-needed rest—and finished a clean sixth inning. The following inning, down to their final out, San Diego used a triple and single to score three runs before a groundout back to Stoll clinched the 11-7 victory.
GAME TWO: GAUCHOS 8, RAINBOW WAHINE 1UC Santa Barbara started strong in the first inning with Jazzy Santos singling to right field and later advancing to second on a wild pitch. Giselle Mejia followed with a double to center field, bringing Santos home for the first run, giving UC Santa Barbara an early 1–0 lead.
The fourth inning was pivotal for UC Santa Barbara. Elicia Acosta singled and Bella Fuentes walked, putting runners on base. Ainsley Waddell then hit a grand slam to right field, driving in four runs. Mejia added another run with an RBI double, breaking the single-season record and extending the lead to 6–0 after the fourth inning.
In the sixth inning, Erin Mendoza singled, and Santos hit her second double of the game, setting up another scoring opportunity. Mejia’s single to left field brought Mendoza home, and Santos later stole home, adding two more runs to UC Santa Barbara’s tally, increasing their lead to 8–1.
The Wahine managed to score once in the sixth inning, but UC Santa Barbara’s defense held firm throughout the game. The final score was 8–1, securing the victory for UC Santa Barbara.
Ainsley Waddell did it all for the Gauchos when they needed it most. The sophomore took the circle for the first time since March 22 and threw a complete game allowing just one run and striking out three. If that wasn’t enough she went 1-4 at the plate with her lone hit being a grand slam, the Gauchos second of the day. While in the circle she had four total chances and made three putout and an assist for 1.000 fielding percentage.
UP NEXTUC Santa Barbara will have a quick turnaround as they take on the No. 2 seed, CSUN, at 1 p.m. tomorrow in the first of what could be two Big West Championship games. Should the Gauchos win game one the two teams will play a winner-take-all second championship game 45 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
(Article courtesy UCSB Athletics).