(La Jolla, Calif. - Feb. 12, 2026) - The Trailblazers battled tough on Thursday afternoon dropping a doubleheader at UC San Diego falling 9-0 in five innings in game one and 9-8 in a hard-fought game two at Triton Softball Field.
Utah Tech (0-7) was limited to four hits in the first contest against UC San Diego (6-1), but came out hot in game two for a season-high 12 base knocks, including five doubles.
Senior outfielder
Sadie Phillips went 2-for-2 in the first game and UT also got singles from
Baylee Howley &
Brooklyn Dowdle.
The nightcap saw base hits by eight different Trailblazers with four players notching two hits apiece led by
Kinley Pappas,
Lakaiya-Braessia Kahahawai-Kekona,
Kennedy Embrey & Phillips.
Pappas drove in three RBI while Embrey &
Abby Davidson each scored a pair of runs apiece.
In the circle,
Sauren Garton and
Cemryn Pickett combined to toss four innings in game one while
Riley Price (1.2 innings),
Lexie Wilson (1.2 innings) &
Delaney Wright (2.2 innings) combined to throw game two with each hurler striking out two Tritons apiece.
How It Happened Game 1
The Tritons jumped out to a 3-0 lead with three runs in the second inning and after the Trailblazers got their first hit of the contest with a single by Phillips in the third, UCSD tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the frame.
After a pair of two-out singles in the fourth by Dowdle & Howley, a popup by
Jayda Gleave stranded a pair of Trailblazers on base.
The Tritons kept the strong offense in the bottom of the fourth going with an RBI double and a two-run RBI single for a 9-0 lead as UT could not capitalize on getting the first two runners on base in the fifth to fall in run-rule.
How It Happened Game 2
Finally breaking through on the scoreboard in the second inning of the nightcap, the Trailblazers ripped off four runs getting started with an RBI single by
Drew McKown and was followed by a single by Phillips to load the bases.
Pappas kept the scoring going lacing a two-run double down the left field line and Kahahwai-Kekona followed with an RBI single up the middle to complete the scoring.
Quickly answering back, the Tritons scored six runs in the bottom of the second to take a 6-4 lead and UCSD tacked on three more runs in the fourth on a solo home run & a pair of RBI base hits to push their lead to 9-4.
A leadoff double by
Lauren Jones got the fifth inning started for the Trailblazers & fellow freshman
Summer Sanderson smacked another double down the left field line to drive home Jones.
Trailing 9-5 heading into the top of the seventh, UT refused to go away quietly scoring three runs to get within one run of the Tritons.
The scoring started with a bases-loaded walk by Phillips and was followed by a sacrifice fly by Pappas and finished out with an RBI single by Kahahawai-Kekona to cut UCSD's lead to 9-8.
With Phillips representing the tying run on second base and two outs, a fly out by Jones ended the Trailblazers' comeback threat.
Up Next
The Trailblazers head to the University of San Diego on Friday for the a pair of neutral site contests taking on Omaha (4-0) at 10 a.m. and Colorado State (3-2) at 3 p.m.
