COMPTON, Calif. - The No. 1 ranked UC San Diego baseball team gave up a tying run in the ninth but then rallied to win the NCAA West Regional semifinal game by a 4-3 score against No. 24 Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday night in Compton. With the bases loaded and one out and the score tied at 3-3,
Brandon Gregorich was hit by a pitch and the Tritons moved to just one win away from a possible return trip to Cary, North Carolina and an NCAA World Series berth.
"That was a dog fight, and I'm proud of our guys for battling all night and finding a way to win that thing," said head coach Dan O'Brien. "Bottom line is they found a way, and that's what great teams do," continued O'Brien.
The Tritons will aim for that berth on Saturday when it takes the field at 4:00 p.m. against either Hawaii Pacific or Cal State Dominguez Hills.
With the win, UC San Diego improves to 50-7, while Cal State Dominguez Hills drops to 41-19.
Matt Rossman pitched brilliantly despite earning a no-decision. Rossman finished the night going 8.1 innings, allowed four hits, three runs, walked two and struck out seven. Of Rossman's 134 pitches, 90 were strikes. Daniel Simmons could not get the save in the top of the ninth, allowing a run to score, but limited the damage and had the Tritons tied at 3-3. Simmons would end up as the winning pitcher, improving to 5-0 on the year.
The Tritons only managed five hits on the night, two by Aaron Bauman. UCSD was able to move base runners all night however, taking advantage of three stolen bases, three wild pitches, three hit batsmen and a passed ball.
Gregorich had two RBI, including a sac fly RBI, his 11th of the year, and the walk-off hit-by-pitch RBI. The two RBI increased Gregorich's single-season record to 82.
CSUDH's Bret Montgomery pitched a great game going 7.0 innings, allowing three runs, but just one earned run. He earned the no-decision as Matt Phillips took the loss dropping to 8-1 on the year.
The Tritons manufactured a run in the second inning as Kellen Lee reached on a one out infield single. Lee would advance to second on a wild pitch and then on to third on a passed ball. Grant Bauer had a solid at-bat, sending a fly ball to center for a sac fly RBI that allowed Lee to cross the plate as an unearned run and the Tritons led 1-0 through two.
CSUDH scored two runs in the third as John Skala tripled and scored, while CCAA Tournament MVP Andrew Baslow homered to left center to give the Toros a 2-1 lead.
In the bottom of the third, UCSD's Kyle Saul was hit by a pitch and Bauman had a hit-and-run single to put runners on the corners. Gregorich came through with a sac fly RBI to tie the game at 2-2 through three.
UCSD took the lead in the fourth scoring an unearned run as Danny Susdorf stole a base and advanced to third on a wild pitch. With runners on the corners, Bauer got caught in a run down, but Susdorf would come home to score the go-ahead run at 3-2 UCSD.
In the top of the ninth, pinch hitter Derrick Duarte doubled to the left center gap for an RBI, but the potential winning run was thrown out at the plate. Simmons finished off the frame with a strikeout, preserving the 3-3 tie.
Robert Sedin drew a leadoff walk on four pitches in the ninth and advanced to second with no outs after a balk. Vance Albitz was then intentionally walked to put two on and set up a possible double play. Saul put down the perfect sac bunt to put runners on second and third with one out. Bauman was intentionally walked to load the bases and set up a force out, and bring up Gregorich. Gregorich was hit by the pitch which allowed the game-winning run, Sedin to score.
On Saturday at 12:00 p.m., Cal State Dominguez Hills will take on Hawaii Pacific in an elimination game. The winner of the game will advance to play the Tritons at 4:00 p.m., also on Saturday.
