LOS ANGELES, Calif. ? The 22nd-ranked UC San Diego baseball team lost to 16th-ranked Mesa State 5-4 on Thursday night on the first day of the NCAA West Regional. After UCSD scored first, a four-run MSC fourth inning gave the Mavericks the lead that they would not give up. Chris Franco's 14th homerun of the year brought UCSD within one, but the Tritons could not come up with the game-tying run. UCSD drops to 37-24, while Mesa State improves to 47-12. UCSD will face No. 1 Sonoma State on Friday in an elimination game.
In the top of the fourth with two outs, the Tritons' Bryan Silverman doubled to center. Jonathan Erickson came through with the two-out RBI single to center, giving UCSD the 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, MSC's Matt Bodenchuk doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Pitcher Daniel Simmons made a nice catch on a liner for the first out of the inning. Matt Miller hit a single to short, with Vance Albitz knocking down the ball and keeping runners on the corners with one out. The next MSC batter walked to load the bases. After a Triton error scored two runs, a Blaine Bernades double drove in two, giving MSC a 4-1 lead. MSC left the bases full to end the inning ahead 4-1.
Mesa State's Chandler Herdt hit a sac fly in the fifth to give the Mavericks a 5-1 edge through five frames.
In the UCSD sixth with one out, John Roth and Silverman hit back-to-back singles. After the runners moved up to second and third after Jonathan Erickson's groundout, Tim Mort came through with the two-out single, driving in two and UCSD trailed 5-3 in the sixth.
With two outs in the Triton seventh, Chris Franco belted his 14th homerun of the season, bringing UCSD within 5-4.
UCSD will now have a quick turn around and face No. 1 Sonoma State in an elimination game on Friday with first pitch slated for 11:00 a.m. at Reeder Field.
