POMONA, Calif. - UC San Diego belted three home runs, two off the bat of outfielder Scott Liske, but it wasn't enough as the Tritons fell 10-5 against Cal Poly Pomona Thursday in league action at Scolinos Field. It was the first contest of a four-game series between the two rivals.
The two teams combined for 24 hits in the game, 13 of those going to Cal Poly Pomona. UCSD fell to 4-9 overall and 2-3 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) while the Broncos improved to 10-2 overall and 3-2 in the CCAA.
UCSD took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but Cal Poly Pomona came right back and plated two runs in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead for good. A single run in the second and a four-run fourth inning put the Broncos up 7-2. The Tritons rallied for two runs in the sixth, but CPP negated the scores by tallying two runs once again in its half of the inning.
Liske finished 2-for-4 with three RBI as he hit a two-run home run in the sixth and a solo shot in the ninth. Both blasts were to left field. The sophomore now has three career homers, his first coming on Apr. 23, 2011 against Academy of Art.
Sophomore catcher Nick La Face also went yard, a two-out solo poke to left to give UCSD the 1-0 lead in the opening inning. His first long ball of the season, La Face also now has three home runs to his name as he hit two in 2011.
The last time the Tritons hit at least three home runs in a single game was May 12, 2011 when they unloaded five against Cal Poly Pomona in a 9-6 win at the CCAA Tournament in Stockton, Calif.
Despite giving up 10 hits including two home runs, Pomona starter Erick Ruvalcaba improved to 2-0 on the season as he struck out eight Tritons, one short of his career-high, over eight innings of work. Three of the four runs charged to Ruvalcaba were earned.
Counterpart Jeff Rauh dropped to 0-3 on the year, surrendering nine runs (eight earned) on 11 hits through six innings.
At the plate for the Broncos, center fielder Jordan Whitman was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and four RBI. His home run to left-center accounted for three of CPP's four runs in the fourth inning. Shortstop Mike Santoro was also 3-for-5, scoring three runs and knocking in a pair.
In addition to Liske and La Face, shortstop Garrett Tuck put together a nice day at the plate with three singles in four at-bats. Left fielder Justin Rahn had two hits and scored once.
UCSD stranded eight runners on base.
"I thought offensively we really competed well and showed a lot of positive signs," said UCSD head coach Eric Newman. "Jeff (Rauh) didn't have great command today and they (Cal Poly Pomona) had some things go their way early that made it tough. I give them credit as they swung the bats well and every time we did something they responded."
Through 13 games, La Face leads the Tritons in batting (.341), doubles (5), RBI (10), total bases (22), slugging percentage (.537) and on-base percentage (.453).
The two teams play again Friday at 2 p.m. in Pomona before coming to La Jolla Saturday for a noon doubleheader at Triton Ballpark. Friday's game will be covered by live stats, while Saturday's tilts will have live video as well as live stats.
UCSD and CPP met eight times in 2011 with the Tritons winning five of those.
- UCSDtritons.com -
