LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The 14th-ranked UC San Diego baseball team suffered two losses to Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday afternoon at Triton Baseball Field. CSUDH defeated the Tritons 13-3 in the first game, after the Toros scored 11 runs in the last three frames. CSUDH continued its hitting in game two with 11 more runs in the first three innings. UCSD made a rally, scoring nine times in the sixth-inning, four runs coming on a Chris Hom grand slam. The rally fell short however, as the Toros won game two 16-11.
UCSD drops to 21-7, 11-4 California Collegiate Athletic Association, while the Toros improve to 11-18, 8-8 CCAA.
In the first game, Garrett Imeson went 3-for-3 with a stolen base and RBI. Hom went 2-for-2 with a solo homerun. Nick Burke also recorded two hits.
Down 14-2 in the sixth inning in the second game, UCSD sent 12 batters to the plate and scored nine times, cutting the deficit down to 14-11. CSUDH scored two unearned runs in the final inning, lifting the Toros to the doubleheader split and evening the four-game series.
CSUDH scored single runs in the first and second innings, the second run coming on a solo homerun by Eric Blackwell to lead 2-0.
In the UCSD second, Nick Burke led off with a double, advanced to second on a Benton bunt and scored on a Mort sac fly to bring UCSD within 2-1 through two.
In the bottom of the fifth, Mort led off with a double to centerfield and Chris Hom walked. The runners moved to second and third with one out on an error pick-off attempt. Imeson followed with a sac fly RBI to rightfield, driving in the tying run, an unearned run at 2-2 through five innings.
Hom's grand slam was the third at Triton Baseball Field this season. Justin Bono and Vance Albitz have also hit slams on UCSD's home turf.
CSUDH's Kevin Pillar doubled with one out in the seventh to give the Toros a 3-2 lead. Carlos Leyva tripled to right field for an RBI to push the lead to 4-2. A sac fly by Candelario Flores upped the lead to 5-2.
In the UCSD seventh with one out, Hom hit a solo homerun to rightfield, making the score 5-3.
CSUDH's Cody Puckett and Jon Alia hit back-to-back homeruns in the UCSD eighth, pushing the Toros ahead 7-3. The Toros would add two more runs before the inning ended and led 9-3.
CSUDH added four runs in the ninth for its 13 runs.
In the second game, Alia hit a three-run homerun in the first, putting CSUDH up 3-0.
In the bottom half of the first, Albitz singled and Imeson was hit. The Tritons perfected a double steal to put the runners on second and third. With one out, Chris Franco grounded out to the right side, driving in a run to make the score 3-1.
CSUDH added three more runs in the second inning to lead 6-1.
With two outs in the UCSD second, Justin Bono singled and Albitz doubled for an RBI to make the score 6-2.
CSUDH added five runs in the third, three coming on a two-out RBI double by Alia to lead 11-2.
In the UCSD sixth, Franco hit a two-out two-RBI single for two runs. After two more runs scored, Chris Hom hit a grand slam to give UCSD nine in the inning and pull the Tritons within 14-11.
CSUDH added two unearned runs in the final inning for the 16-11 win.
