LA JOLLA, Calif. - Kevin Cramer drove in a pair of runs and Kenny Arnerich tossed a complete game shutout to lead fourth-seeded Sonoma State to a 4-0 victory over top seed UC San Diego on the opening day of the NCAA Division II West Regional on Thursday evening at Triton Ballpark.
The Tritons (41-14), ranked sixth nationally, will now take on second-seeded and 22nd-ranked Western Oregon in an elimination game at 1:00 p.m. The Seawolves (34-19) will face No. 3 seed Cal Poly Pomona in the winners bracket on Friday at 6:00 p.m.
Pomona, tied for 28th nationally, defeated Western Oregon 10-4 in the first regional matchup of the day.
Cramer hit a solo homer for Sonoma State in the top of the first inning and that would be all Arnerich (8-2) would need to hold down the West Region's top-ranked squad as the senior right-hander dealt the Tritons their first shutout defeat of the season. Arnerich scattered seven hits over nine innings of work, while striking out one and walking one.
"I'm really happy with my performance," Arnerich said. "I was able to really pound UCSD inside and the changeup was working for me. It feels so great because my CCAA Tournament performance last week wasn't very good. The rest of the team was counting on me to start it off and I was able to do that."
The Seawolves added a run in the second inning on a RBI single by Garrett Gooselaw and then scored two in the fourth when Cramer drove in a run on a double to right center and scored on a O'Koyea Dickson single.
"We're extremely excited, but it's just one game," Sonoma State head coach John Goelz said. "We came to have a great weekend and we played really well today. Our goals moving forward are to come out with intensity and be equally focused."
O'Koyea and Alex Todd finished with two hits apiece for the Seawolves.
The Tritons had their chances, stranding a total of nine runners in the game. Evan Kehoe, UCSD's all-time doubles leader, doubled to lead off the seventh inning and advanced to third on a groundout, but Arnerich retired the next two batters to end the threat. UCSD loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but a pair of Triton pinch hitters came up dry and Sonoma held on for the improbable shutout.
Outfielders Aaron Bauman and Kyle Saul finished with two hits apiece for UCSD.
Senior ace Tim Shibuya (11-4) took the loss, allowing four runs, three earned, on eight hits in eight innings of work. He finished with 10 strikeouts, one short of his career-high. It was Shibuya's first loss since Apr. 8 when he suffered a 5-1 setback, also against Sonoma State.
"We didn't play very well, that's the bottom line," said UCSD head coach
Dan O'Brien. "It was a little indicative of how we played early in the
season, so we're ready to address it the we did early in the season and
just relax a little bit, have a little more fun. I think you're gonna
see a very, very tough team to beat for the rest of the tournament."
The last time the Tritons failed to score a run was on Apr. 5, 2008 at Cal State Stanislaus.
Triton Ballpark hosted 611 for the game, a season-high.
All of the West Regional games will feature a live video broadcast. Games involving UCSD will also have an audio broadcast with Craig Elsten and former Triton pitcher Tim Strombel calling the action.
--
Cal Poly Pomona 10, Western Oregon 4
Travis Taijeron had three hits and Tyson Edwards drove in three runs to lift third-seeded Cal Poly Pomona to a 10-4 come-from-behind victory over No. 2 seed Western Oregon in the opening game of the NCAA Division II West Regional on Thursday afternoon at Triton Ballpark on the campus of UC San Diego.
WOU (37-14) held a 4-1 lead entering the sixth inning, but CPP (34-21) scored three in the top of the frame to tie the score and then added six more in the eighth to put the game away.
The Broncos will advance to face No. 4 seed Sonoma State on Friday at 6:00 p.m., while Western Oregon will play top seed UC San Diego at 1 p.m. in an elimination game. The Wolves shutout the Tritons 4-0 in the Friday's late game.
Taijeron, who was named the NCBWA West Region Player of the Year earlier in the week, went 3-for-5 with a run scored and a RBI for the Broncos, while Edwards finished 2-for-4 and scored a run in addition to driving in three.
Jenzen Torres and Chris Miller also had two hits for Pomona, while Jordan Whitman smacked a big two-run double off the wall in left field to blow the game open during the six-run Bronco eighth inning.
"I told the team to enjoy the moment and embrace it," Pomona head coach Randy Betten said. "The big inning was great. The hit by Whitman was a huge part of that inning."
Michael Parker (3-2) earned the win for the Broncos, pitching three and a third scoreless innings in relief of starter Erick Ruvalcaba. Parker held WOU to just one hit and recorded six strikeouts. Ruvalcaba allowed four runs on eight hits in five and two thirds innings of work.
Bo Folkinga went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI to lead the Western Oregon offense, which plated three runs in the first and scored one in the fifth.
Reliever Travis Bradshaw was saddled with the loss for the Wolves after lasting just a third of an inning in the eighth. He allowed five runs, four earned, on two hits as the Broncos took over at that point. WOU starter Grady Wood surrendered four runs on eight hits, while striking out five and walking none.
The Broncos entered the sixth inning trailing 4-1, but Edwards ripped a two-run double and later scored on a wild pitch to tie the score at 4-4. Pomona followed with sixth runs in the eighth, capitalizing on two errors by WOU and Whitman's bases-loaded double.
All of the West Regional games will feature a live video broadcast.
- ucsdtritons.com -
