LA JOLLA, Calif. - A late comeback bid fell short as the 30th-ranked UC San Diego baseball team was defeated, 5-4, by No. 33 Western Oregon Sunday at Triton Ballpark.
UCSD fell to 1-3 while Western Oregon improved to 3-1.
Down 5-3 going into the bottom of the ninth, the Tritons got a leadoff single from shortstop Garrett Tuck. Freshman third baseman Ryan O'Malley smacked a double down the right field line and Tuck was held at third. Jack Lombardi, also a freshman, came in to pinch hit and lined out to center, deep enough to score Tuck on the sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to one. However, with O'Malley still on second, WOU reliever AJ Burke got the next two batters, the first on a strikeout and the second on a ground ball, to end the game and pick up the save.
The Tritons never led in the game as the Wolves scored three runs in the top half of the first inning. They went up 4-0 with a run in the third before UCSD got on the board with a run in the fifth. In the sixth, WOU scored a single run in the sixth to take a 5-1 lead, but the Tritons answered with two scores in the bottom half of the inning.
"Our guys battled back hard and came up short against a good Western Oregon team," said UCSD head coach Eric Newman. "We will continue to work and get better through this week. I have a lot of confidence in this group of young men."
Western Oregon starter Kirk Lind threw six innings to earn the win as he gave up three runs on seven hits while striking out seven. Lind walked no Triton batters.
For UCSD, the loss also went to the starter as Devin Garrett let in four runs on four hits over 3.1 innings of work. He struck out three and walked one.
Four Triton relievers combined to give up just one run on three hits over the final 5.2 innings.
UCSD out-hit the Wolves, 9-7, and WOU made three errors in the field.
Designated hitter Richard Seigel led UCSD at the plate, going 2-for-4 wtih a run scored and a RBI. Tuck also finished 2-for-4.
Western Oregon shortstop Blake Miller went 3-for-3 with two runs and a RBI as he and outfielder AJ Royal each tripled.
Down 4-0, UCSD scored its first run in the fifth inning. Seigel and Tuck led off with two straight base hits. Seigel moved to third on a fly out to center and scored on a fielder's choice on the next play.
After the Wolves took a 5-1 lead with a run in the sixth, the Tritons plated a pair in the bottom half. Danny Susdorf and Scott Liske started things off with consecutive base hits. Following a line out, Nick La Face singled to right, scoring Susdorf with Liske taking third as the ball was bobbled in the outfield. Seigel singled through the left side to knock in Liske, getting UCSD within two at 5-3.
UCSD hits the road early this year, playing four games at Colorado Mesa University Feb. 10-12 in Grand Junction, Colo.
- UCSDtritons.com -
