STOCKTON, Calif. - The No. 1 ranked UC San Diego baseball team captured the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship with an 8-3 victory over No. 25 Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday at Klein Family Field in Stockton. The title gave UCSD its third overall tournament title and second consecutive. In the double elimination tournament, the Tritons lost the first game by a 6-3 score.
"We didn't show up to compete today and it cost us a ballgame," said head coach Dan O'Brien. "But I'm proud of our guys for bouncing back and playing a very solid ballgame to win the tourney."
In the second game, Kirby St. John threw a complete-game, allowing three runs and earning a single-season school-record tying 11th win of the year.
With the win, UCSD improves to 48-7 while Cal State Dominguez Hills drops to 40-18.
St. John went 9.0 innings, allowed seven hits, three runs and walked two. He threw 104 pitches to improve to 11-1.
UCSD scored in six different innings and never trailed in the 8-3 win. Evan Kehoe had three-RBI, including a homerun while Aaron Bauman also had a two-run homerun off the foul pole.
Brandon Gregorich went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI.
In the first game, CSUDH took the lead in the third inning on a three-run homerun by Andrew Baslow. Kyle Pond added a solo shot in the frame to give the Toros a 4-0 edge.
UCSD scored single runs in the fifth and sixth and RBI's from Grant Bauer and Gregorich to pull within 4-2.
CSUDH added a solo homerun in the seventh to extend the lead to 5-2.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Tritons loaded the bases and scored a run with two outs on a Kyle Saul hit by pitch RBI.
In the top of the eighth with one out, Abel Medina hit a homerun to left field to give the Toros a 6-3 edge and eventual win.
Tim Shibuya, St. John, Kellen Lee, Gregorich, Kyle Saul and Danny Susdorf earned spots on the all-tournament team.
Heading into the tournament, the NCAA West Regional rankings had UCSD at No. 1, CSUDH at No. 2, Chico State at No. 3 and Hawaii Pacific at No. 4.
