SEASIDE, California - The San Francisco State softball team eliminated the No. 13 UC San Diego Tritons on Friday, 3-0, to advance to the semifinals of the CCAA Tournament.
The Gators are now the highest remaining seed in the tournament as the top-seeded Tritons and No. 2 Chico State Wildcats were both knocked out on Friday.
- SF State (38-17) has now beaten five ranked teams this year, three of which have come against UC San Diego (31-14) who are the regular season CCAA Champions.
- The Gators, who are recieving votes in the NFCA National Poll and are ranked No. 5 in the NCAA West Region, broke and set a new program record for hits in a season with 506, breaking the previous record of 503 that was set in 2007.
- This is just the third time this season the Tritons have been shut out and the two hits are tied for the second-fewest this year.
- It is the first shutout win over a ranked team since 2014 when the Gators blanked No. 7 Humboldt State 1-0.
- Emily Mitchell was lights out and didn't allow a Triton hit in the final five innings. The junior retired the final nine batters she faced to seal the shutout win.
- Brylynn Vallejos added two more hits to bring her season total to 94, which is the fifth-most in CCAA history. The CCAA Freshman of the Year also set a new record for doubles in a season with 18, breaking the previous mark of 17 that was set a season ago by Michelle Castro. Vallejos has also tied the record for runs in a season with 53.
- Castro, Nina Revoir and Katelyn Sturm each knocked in a run.
- Vallejos led off the bottom of the first with a single up the middle and advanced to second on Castro's groundout. Revoir plated her for the first run on a single to left, and Sturm then made it 2-0 with a double off the top of the left-field wall.
- In the second, Sydney Jenkins led off with a four-pitch walk and Vallejos doubled to left-center. Two batters later Castro dropped down a perfect bunt as the Gators pulled off a squeeze play to score Jenkins to widen the lead to 3-0.
- Mitchell recorded her 16th win of the season and 15th complete game. She struck out three, including the last batter of the game, to lead SF State to the next round.
SF State takes on Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday, May 4 at noon looking to stay alive. Live stats and a stream will be provided.
