• Malaya Johnson aided UC Santa Barbara to a split of the first two games of its league series at UC San Diego, and has garnered a first Big West Freshman of the Week honor.
• After dropping Sunday’s opener 4-3 in walk-off fashion, Johnson fired a shutout in the nightcap for a series-evening 5-0 triumph. The right-hander scattered six hits and two walks while striking out two Tritons.
• Johnson had one perfect frame in the fifth, and ducked around a pair of Deena Pederson doubles in the first and third. With runners at the corners in the fourth through a two-out rally, Johnson retired Georgia Heathcock on a first-pitch flyout to end that threat. Again with two Tritons on base in the seventh, Johnson punctuated the game by getting Pederson to fly out to left on the first toss.
• Johnson had thrown a four-hit shutout versus Wagner on March 3 in Riverside. The Gauchos and Tritons contest the rubber game on Monday afternoon in La Jolla. The set had started with a Sunday doubleheader with both schools having just concluded winter quarter final exams.
• Johnson is the second Gaucho in as many weeks to warrant recognition, following The Big West Field Player of the Week Ashley Donaldson. The Roseville product is the program’s first-ever Big West Freshman of the Week, since the conference added the award for the 2019 season.