SAN DIEGO – After opening the day slowly, the San Diego softball program (4-13, 0-0 WCC) rallied to earn a split on day one of the San Diego Tournament, falling 8-1 to CSUN (12-4, 0-0 Big West) before defeating UNLV (8-7, 0-0 MWC), 6-2 on Friday night at the USD Softball Complex.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED – CSUN 8, SAN DIEGO 1

• On the opening game of the weekend, it was CSUN who came out of the gate quickly, scoring a run in the first inning.
• San Diego attempted a response, as Carly Ruiz led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a bunt, but was stranded on the bases.
• The Matadors extended the lead further with three runs in the second inning and three more in the fourth to lead 7-0.
• In the bottom half of the fourth, Tele Jennings notched a double but was also stranded at second base.
• After a run in the seventh inning to give CSUN an 8-0 lead, the Toreros offense finally found some late momentum.
• Taylor Johnson led off the seventh inning with a double, before Jennings added a walk and EJ Joyner reached on an error to set up the Toreros with the bases loaded and no outs.
• The Toreros scored a run off a dropped infield fly to make it 8-1, but the remaining runners would be stranded.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED – SAN DIEGO 6, UNLV 2

• The tone was set from the beginning for the Toreros, as Courtney Rose stranded two runners in the opening frame to generate immediate momentum.
• San Diego jumped on Rebels pitching in nearly every inning, beginning by loading the bases in the first inning,
• The Toreros also led off the second inning with an Amanda Limon double, but the third inning would be where they broke through.
• Johnson and Michelle Delgado led off the inning with back-to-back singles, before Joecellia Roberts drew a walk.
• San Diego scored their first run on a Jennings RBI hit-by-pitch, forcing the UNLV starter out of the game.
• Alyssa Hernandez followed up Jennings with a bases-loaded RBI walk and Limon reached on a fielder's choice to extend the San Diego lead to 3-0.
• Arisa Tovar was next up and singled through the left side to add to the lead and make it 4-0.
• After Mikalyn Emanuelli re-loaded the bases with a single, Ruiz drew another bases-loaded walk and Lauren Asia notched an RBI single to make it 6-0.
• From there, Rose took over and kept the Rebels offense at bay.
• Rose danced around trouble in the fourth inning with a strikeout to end the inning and got a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth to maintain her no-hit bid.
• The Torero offense would strand runners in scoring position in the fifth and sixth inning as they attempted to end the game in a run-rule, forcing Rose to go back out for the seventh.
• Rose got the first two outs, but was foiled by a two RBI single to cut the lead to 6-2.
• However, the redshirt senior finished off the complete game with her sixth strikeout of the night to secure the win.

 
TORERO TIDBITS

• San Diego recorded their first win over UNLV since 2014 and matched their highest margin of victory over the Rebels.
• With six strikeouts on the night, Rose (275) moved into ninth place on the Toreros all-time strikeout list. Next up is Jade Quentin (281) in eighth.
• The Toreros recorded a season-high five walks and three hit-by-pitches in the win over UNLV.
• Hernandez played in her first game back from injury since Feb. 17, 2023 and tallied her first RBI in a San Diego uniform.
• Asia recorded the first hit and RBI of her collegiate career in the win over UNLV.
• Ruiz extended her on-base streak to nine consecutive games.

 
NEXT UP

• The Toreros are back in action on Saturday, hosting CSUN at 2 p.m., and Cal State Bakersfield at 4:30 p.m.

 
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