STOCKTON, Calif. - The No. 1 ranked UC San Diego baseball team broke open a tie game with a four-run eighth inning to defeat No. 25 Cal State Dominguez Hills 8-4 and advance to the California Collegiate Athletic Association championship game in Stockton.
Matt Rossman managed to pitch 5.1 innings, giving up four runs, the most he has given up this season.
"It's usually a long day when your starter struggles, but Rossman battled," said head coach Dan O'Brien. "He's a true competitor and our guys had his back all day. Today was a great team win."
UCSD's defense picked up as the Toros ended up stranding 10 base runners on the base paths. Taylor Austin earned the win out of the bullpen, pitching 2.2 innings of shutout ball. Austin allowed just one hit and had a strikeout. Daniel Simmons pitched the ninth inning and got out of trouble. The Toros loaded the bases with two outs, but got the final out on a fly ball to center.
The Tritons got off to another strong start after scoring five first-run innings in the win against Chico State. UCSD would score three times in the first inning against the Toros as Aaron Bauman had an RBI double and Danny Susdorf had a two-RBI double down the left field line.
UCSD led by a 4-3 score until the sixth inning when the Toros tied the game at 4-4 on a wild pitch.
In the top of the eighth, Vance Albitz got the inning started with a single to right field and Kyle Saul had a hustle double to center field to put two on with no outs. After a ground out, Kehoe layed down a sac bunt which resulted in an RBI as Albitz raced home to beat the throw to tie the game. Susdorf then hit a bases-clearing three-RBI double to give UCSD the lead and eventual win.
With the win, UCSD improves to 47-6 while Cal State Dominguez Hills drops to 38-17.
UCSD advances to the CCAA title game on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. at Klein Family Field in Stockton. The Tritons will play Cal State Dominguez Hills again after the Toros eliminated Chico State with an 8-4 triumph in the late game Friday night. Since UCSD has not lost in the tournament, the Tritons will have two chances to clinch the title on Saturday.
