WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - The UC San Diego baseball program has been picked to finish third in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) in 2015, as voted by the league's 11 head coaches in its preseason poll released on Tuesday.
UCSD accumulated 82 points to place just behind Chico State (96) and Cal Poly Pomona (90), which split the 11 first-place votes among themselves, with the reigning West Region champion Wildcats getting six as the CCAA favorites for the fourth year running. Defending regular-season champion Sonoma State is fourth (77), with 2013 regular-season champion Cal State Monterey Bay fifth (53).
Cal State L.A. (49), Cal State East Bay (47), Cal State Stanislaus (36), SF State (33), Cal State San Bernardino (29) and Cal State Dominguez Hills (13) round out the poll.
UCSD was favored for sixth in 2014, before sliding into third at the end of the league season (26-10), and then winning a record sixth CCAA tournament banner in Stockton. The Tritons subsequently vaulted into the top seed in the West Region and thus earned the right to host the NCAA Division II West Regional, where it ultimately saw its incredible run ended at 38-16 in the regional final by rival Chico State.
Entering his fourth season in charge, Eric Newman welcomes 17 letterwinners back to integrate with six returning redshirts and 13 newcomers. The Tritons have retained six out of nine regular position players and three of four starting pitchers, having lost leftfielder Justin Rahn, shortstop Garrett Tuck, designated hitter Nick La Face and right-hander Blake Fassler to graduation, in addition to closer Scott Zeman, set-up man David Hart, and utility infielder Spencer Frazier. La Face has stayed on as the only new addition to Newman's coaching staff.
Back is junior All-American and two-time All-CCAA First Team selection Troy Cruz (Chula Vista/Bonita Vista HS), who has excelled as both an infielder and right-handed pitcher for the Tritons in his first two seasons of college baseball. Senior Erik Lewis will take his starting place on the UCSD infield, primarily still at second base, with right-handed junior ace Justin Donatella and senior first baseman Michael Mann returning as well. Donatella and Lewis were both All-West Region and first-team All-CCAA picks in 2014, with Mann chosen to the All-CCAA Third Team.
Three fourth-year senior pitchers return with southpaws Trevor Scott and Chad Rieser into the rotation and bullpen, respectively, alongside Dan Kolodin. Senior Brett Levy is back behind the plate, while junior Gradeigh Sanchez and sophomores Jack Larsen and Brandon Shirley could make up the starting outfield. Sophomore Tyler Howsley appears set to take over for Tuck at shortstop. Howsley, Larsen and Sanchez all played together at Mission Viejo's Capistrano Valley High School.
UCSD appeared at No. 15 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (CBN) preseason poll, released on Dec. 23, and was in the same position in the D2 Baseball News ranking unveiled on Friday, Jan. 23. Of the two remaining weekly national polls for the NCAA Division II, Perfect Game's announcement takes place this Thursday, Jan. 29, live online via Twitter at 7 a.m. PT (9 a.m. CT), with that of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) coming soon.
The NCBWA did release its regional preseason items last Friday. The Tritons are No. 2 in the West Region rankings, behind only Chico State. Cruz was chosen to the association's 14-player preseason All-West Region First Team for the second straight year, with Donatella and Lewis making it onto the second team. UCSD appeared at No. 15 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (CBN) preseason poll, released on Dec. 23, and was in the same position in the D2 Baseball News ranking unveiled on Friday, Jan. 23. Of the two remaining weekly national polls for the NCAA Division II, Perfect Game's announcement takes place this Thursday, Jan. 29, live online via Twitter at 7 a.m. PT (9 a.m. CT), with that of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) coming soon.
Three CCAA squads will be in action for the first time in 2015 this Sunday, Feb. 1. UCSD is among them, as the Tritons bring in traditional West Region contender Western Oregon University on Opening Day for a doubleheader. First pitch at the new-look Triton Ballpark is slated for 10:30 a.m., with a seven-inning nightcap scheduled following an opener of the regulation nine innings. The twin bill will mark the start of a four-game series, with single meetings set for primetime on Monday and Tuesday night, Feb. 2-3, each at 6 p.m. WOU is rated eighth in the West in the NCBWA's preseason prognostication, and No. 5 by D2 Baseball News.
The Tritons' early-season non-conference slate is indeed an ambitious one, with 2014 South Central Region champion and national runner-up Colorado Mesa University following Western Oregon into La Jolla for two showdowns on Friday, Feb. 6 (6 p.m.), and Saturday, Feb. 7 (1 p.m.). CMU was ranked No. 5 in the CBN national poll and No. 1 in the South Central by D2 Baseball News.
CCAA play is set to begin on Friday, Feb. 13, with the Tritons hosting SF State for four. The CCAA Championship will be held in the neutral-site city of Stockton for the third year in a row, but after the previous two editions took place at Banner Island Ballpark, the four-team tournament is headed back to Klein Family Field on the campus of the University of the Pacific, May 7-10. It would be a familiar locale for the Tritons, who won their third and fourth CCAA tourney titles back-to-back at Klein Family Field when the event was held there previously in 2010 and 2011.
2015 CCAA Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll
Institution (First-Place Votes), Points
1. #8 Chico State (6), 96
2. #20 Cal Poly Pomona (5), 90
3. #15 UC San Diego, 82
4. Sonoma State, 77
5. Cal State Monterey Bay, 53
6. Cal State L.A., 49
7. Cal State East Bay, 47
8. Cal State Stanislaus, 36
9. SF State, 33
10. Cal State San Bernardino, 29
11. Cal State Dominguez Hills, 13
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