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Arcata, CA – Sophomore 1st-team All-CCAA selection Katie Garcia continued to shine in her ninth game as the clean-up hitter, belting her second home run of the year en route to a 3-for-4, four RBI afternoon to lead the 5th-seeded Toros to a 5-3 win over 4th-seeded UC San Diego in game 3 of the 2008 NCAA Softball West Regional, hosted by top-seeded Humboldt State.
The Tritons scored in their first at-bat after a Toro error set up a Jenny Maze single that scored Jenni Habib, who reached on Liz Vazquez's miscue.
The Toros mounted a rally in the third inning after a leadoff walk to Katie Jordan, a one-out single by Vazquez, and a wild pitch that moved the runners up a base. Jennifer Frazier then stepped up and hit a sharp ground ball to Triton third baseman Maze, who alertly tagged Jordan straying from the third base bag for the second out of the inning. Garcia, however, made the Tritons pay after the second wild pitch of the inning as she drilled a 2-2 pitch to the gap in right center, plating two runners for a 2-1 Toro lead and knocking UCSD starter Lauren Chastain from the game.
CSUDH starter Regina Farfan then helped herself by stinging a 2-2 pitch from Triton reliever Melissa Ward into the left-center field gap for a double, bringing home Garcia for a 3-1 cushion.
Farfan was cruising until the fourth when the Tritons strung together 3 hits to close the gap to 3-2, the big blow coming on an Amanda Eliades RBI baseknock.
The Toros, however, answered right back in the fifth after a single, a Triton error and a Garcia RBI single up the middle brought the lead back to two at 4-2, and a Farfan sacrifice fly scored Frazier for the inning's second run and a 5-2 lead.
CSUDH then loaded the bases one inning later sending Vazquez to the plate, but the former Triton hit a harmless fly to right field to keep UCSD within striking distance.
That rally-killer provided a spark to the Tritons as Danielle Lukk belted a two-out homer over the left field fence to cut into the Toro lead. Nicole Saari and pinch-hitter Megan Grace the followed with a single and double to put the tying run in scoring position, only to have Katrin Gabriel pop out to Frazier at short to end the threat.
Garcia capitalized on CSUDH's momentum by belting her second home run of the year to dead center, pushing the Toros lead to 6-3.
The Tritons had one last rally in the bottom of the 7th as they loaded the bases with one out, allowing Eliades to earner her second RBI with a sacrifice fly. But Garcia saved the game with a diving catch off the bat of Lukk in shallow right field, preserving the 6-4 win.
That was enough for CSUDH reliever Kristin Tanaka, who pitched 3.0 innings to pick up her 3rd save of the year, giving Farfan her 16th win to move to 16-9 on the season.
The Toros continue NCAA regional action as they face 8th-seeded Cal State San Bernardino, a 10-1 winner over top-seeded Humboldt State to conclude day one of the NCAA Regional, tomorrow at 4:30 pm.
