LA JOLLA, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos softball team dropped the first two games of its California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) clash at No. 24 UC San Diego, 5-1 and 10-2 (5 inn.) at Triton Softball Field.
 
Freshman Raven LeClair went 3-for-5 with two runs while junior Kat Calderon finished the day with two hits.
 
CSUSM falls to 2-10 overall and 1-9 in CCAA play while the Tritons move up to 11-4 overall and 6-4 CCAA action.
 
The two teams will meet again on Saturday, Feb. 24 with the twinbill beginning at 12 p.m.
 
GAME 1: UCSD 5 – CSUSM 1
 
CSUSM took a 1-0 lead on freshman Janaea Mason's RBI double to left center that scored LeClair after she led off the inning with a single.
 
The Tritons took the lead from CSUSM in the second inning. UCSD's Bobbi Aguirre hit a solo home run and Brittney Ross-Smith followed with an RBI double to right center to make it a 2-1 ballgame.
 
UCSD added three insurance runs on four hits and a CSUSM error.
 
Junior Caitlin Vinyard (1-4) took the loss after relinquishing five runs (four earned) on seven hits and struck out two.
 
UCSD's Robyn Wampler (7-1) collected the win after a one-run, three-hit complete game performance.
 
GAME 2: UCSD 10 – CSUSM 2 (5 inn.)
The Tritons wasted no time getting on the board, scoring three runs on four hits in the opening inning.
 
A bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly gave the Tritons two more runs to make it 5-0 after two innings.
 
CSUSM cut UCSD's lead to 5-2 in the top of the third. The Cougars loaded the bases after senior Sara Langdon drew a one-out walk followed by back-to-back singles by LeClair and Calderon. Freshman Jaqlyn Newhouser drove in Langdon for a run on a groundout to first. LeClair scored when Mason reached first on a UCSD error.
 
The Tritons posted two runs, highlighted by a two-run homer by Aguirre, in both the fourth and fifth innings to enforce the eight-run rule and end the game at 10-2.