SEASIDE, Calif. - A sacrifice fly by Danny Susdorf in the top of the seventh lifted the No. 1 UC San Diego baseball team to a 4-3 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay in the final tilt of a four-game CCAA series. CSUMB won Sunday's first game, 8-7.

With its second split in as many days, UC San Diego moved to 12-4 overall and 5-3 in league games. Cal State Monterey Bay is 5-7 overall and 2-2 in the CCAA.

Tied 3-3 heading into the seventh, and final, inning, Triton outfielder Kyle Saul drew a one-out walk against reliever Tanner Van Meter. Saul stole second and took third on the play when the Otters' second baseman made an error. Outfielder Danny Susdorf then flew out to right, deep enough to allow Saul to tag and score the go-ahead run.

Cal State Monterey Bay threatened in its half of the seventh. With Jeff Rauh on the mound, Alex Mangubat took a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. The next batter, Tony Hernandez, also walked and a second passed ball moved him to second and Mangubat to third with no outs. Ronnie Fhurong flew out to Saul in right field, who proceeded to throw Mangubat out at the plate after he tagged up. Rauh took Saul's throw and made the tag on Mangubat for the second out in the inning. The drama wasn't quite over as a third passed ball allowed Hernandez, the tying run, to get to third. However, Rauh shut it down as he struck out the next batter looking.

Reliever Justin Burns (1-0) got his first win as a Triton. Burns, a junior transfer from the College of San Mateo, entered the game in the fifth with two outs and the bases loaded. The Otters had already scored a run in the inning to tie the game, 3-3. Burns struck his first batter of the game out looking to get UCSD out of the jam.

It was the first career save for Rauh, a junior. Starter Greg Selarz went just three innings for the Tritons, giving up two unearned runs on five hits. He hit a batter and gave up a double while striking out three.

Five different Tritons had one hit each. Designated hitter Kellen Lee hit his first home run of the year, a two-run job in the top of the fourth inning.

CSUMB, which out-hit UCSD, 7-5, in the second game, got two hits from DH Jared DeCastro and Mangubat finished with two RBI. Van Meter suffered the first loss of his season.

The Otters took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run single up the middle by Mangubat. The Tritons answered in the second when a single by third baseman Evan Kehoe plated K.C. Rentfro, who had reached on a leadoff walk. UCSD took a 3-2 lead after Lee's long ball in the fourth. Monterey Bay's run in the fifth came on a sacrifice fly.

In the day's first game, UCSD got out to a 4-0 lead after scoring once in the first inning and three times in the second. Monterey Bay tied it with four runs in the third and went up 7-4 with three more runs in the fourth. A single run in the sixth put the Otters up 8-4.

The Tritons began a comeback in the seventh. Catcher Michael Benton singled and eventually scored on an infield error. A second run scored on a ground ball out, getting the Tritons within two at 8-6. In the eighth, Lee led off with a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a ground ball. With one out, freshman shortstop Garrett Tuck singled to right, scoring Lee. However, the rally ended as Saul grounded into a double play.

A total of eight doubles were hit in the game.

Daniel Simmons dropped to 2-2 as he took the loss on the hill for UCSD. Simmons gave up seven runs on nine hits in just 3.1 innings of work. He struck out three and walked two.

Jacob Crose (1-1) got his first win of the season, giving up six runs (four earned) on eight hits in seven innings. Crose struck out three, walked one and hit four Triton batters.

At the plate, Susdorf went 3-for-4 with a run and two RBI, while Tuck finished with two hits, a run and three RBI. Second baseman Danny Nelson was 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBI for the Otters. De Castro had two hits and three RBI.

On Saturday, the teams also split a doubleheader with the Tritons taking the opener, 8-3, and the Otters winning the second game, 5-3. It's the first time since last season that UCSD has gone 2-2 in a four-game series. Cal State San Bernardino snapped the Tritons' 19-game win streak when it won the first and last games of a series from Apr. 1-3, 2010.

The Tritons return home to host San Francisco State Mar. 5-7. Friday's opener is set for a 6 p.m. start under the lights at Triton Ballpark. Saturday's doubleheader begins at noon and Sunday's final game gets underway at 11 a.m. All games will be covered by Live Stats.

Tickets to all home games are available at Triton Ballpark beginning one hour prior to first pitch. UCSD students are admitted free with a valid ID.

- ucsdtritons.com -