San Diego softball defeated Princeton 6-1 on March 9 at the Reggie Smith Softball Complex, ending the USD/SDSU Co-Host Tournament with a win.
The victory came after San Diego lost an 11-10 game to Princeton two days earlier. The team responded by taking control early and maintaining their lead throughout the game.
Charlie Johnson started for San Diego, pitching 4.2 innings and allowing only one earned run. Kaitlyn Bartlow finished the game with 2.1 scoreless innings in relief. Princeton scored first in the fourth inning with an RBI single from Sonia Zhang, but San Diego quickly tied the game and took the lead in the bottom of the same inning. Taylor Johnson led off with a double, followed by key hits from Mallory Axline and Shawnese Hogue-Lacy, and a sacrifice fly from Hailey Mulligan that put San Diego ahead.
In the fifth inning, Kaylee Oh drew a bases-loaded walk to extend the lead before Hogue-Lacy hit a triple that cleared the bases, bringing in three more runs. Hogue-Lacy finished perfect at the plate with three hits, including a double and triple, and three RBIs.
Bartlow closed out the final two innings without giving up any runs. The Toreros will next play Idaho State in a three-game series starting Friday at home.
