THE SCHEDULE
Games 1-4
vs. Western Oregon (0-0, 0-0 GNAC)
Sunday, Feb. 1 • 10:30 a.m. (DH)
Triton Ballpark • La Jolla
Live Stats
Monday, Feb. 2 • 6 p.m.
Triton Ballpark • La Jolla
Live Stats
Tuesday, Feb. 3 • 6 p.m.
Triton Ballpark • La Jolla
Live Video • Live Stats
The 15th-ranked UC San Diego baseball program begins the 2015 campaign this weekend, as the Tritons play host to traditional West Region contender Western Oregon University for a key early-season four-game series at Triton Ballpark. Opening Day on Feb. 1 features a Super Sunday doubleheader beginning at 10:30 a.m., with the nightcap scheduled to go the shorter seven innings. The set concludes with a pair of primetime affairs under the lights on Monday, Feb. 2, and Tuesday, Feb. 3. First pitch each night is at 6 p.m.
These teams are meeting in a four-game series to open the season for the third time in the last five years, with the prior eight match-ups split evenly down the middle at four wins apiece.
NEW ADMISSION POLICIES FOR TRITON BALLPARK - FREE ENTRY FOR FIRST SERIES!
There will be no admission charged throughout the Western Oregon series at Triton Ballpark. New admission policies are, however, in place permanently at the facility following the renovation. Dogs and other pets will no longer be allowed at Triton Ballpark, nor will coolers. An array of food trucks will be present for future home dates, though this week's option was not yet known at press time.
PARKING INFO
Parking permits are required on the UCSD campus on weekdays, and thus on Monday and Tuesday night. They can be purchased at the machine near the entrance to the Triton Ballpark parking lot. No permits are needed to park on Sunday. Please be aware that parking is slightly limited these days by ongoing construction. Overflow parking is available in the lots beyond the right field wall, still along Voigt Drive.
LIVE COVERAGE
Though UCSD's 2015 home schedule will generally once again feature a live video stream, free of charge, no live video will be available for the Western Oregon series. Electrical tasks inside the brand-new press box at the renovated Triton Ballpark have not yet been completed. Fans can access live coverage from the UCSD Schedule/Results page. Starting lineups, live between-inning updates and other in-game news and notes can be found by following Triton Baseball on the UCSD Athletics Twitter handle (@UCSDtritons).
RANKINGS REPORT
UCSD appeared at No. 15 in the preseason edition of Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's NCAA Division II top-40 poll released back on Dec. 23. The Tritons are also rated 16th by D2 Baseball News, and 19th by Perfect Game (Jan. 28). The fourth weekly national poll is conducted by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). The preseason edition of that one had not been unveiled at press time. UCSD got as high as No. 15 in any national poll a year ago. Regionally speaking, the Tritons are rated No. 2 in the West, behind only Chico State, by both D2 Baseball News and the NCBWA.
LAST SEASON
UCSD is coming off of a successful campaign in which it went 38-16 overall and 26-10 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), good for a third-place finish in the 11-team league after being picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll. The Tritons were 18-9 at home, and concluded the year a remarkable 24-6 (.800) over their last 30, earning a record sixth CCAA tournament banner in Stockton and then the right to host the NCAA Division II Championship West Regional as the No. 1 seed. UCSD's incredible run was ended in the West Region finals.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
UCSD's 36-player 2015 roster features 17 letterwinners, 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 the 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.
SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
UCSD's 2015 schedule consists of 49 regular-season games, including 28 at home within the friendly confines of Triton Ballpark. The Tritons face projected favorite Chico State at home for the second year in a row, with that four-game set between arch rivals set for March 6-8. UCSD opens with a season-long 11-game homestand. The Tritons and SF State are the first teams to begin CCAA play, contesting a four-game series, Feb. 13-15. 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.
2014 SUPERLATIVES
UCSD completed the 2014 CCAA slate without suffering a league series loss, with three sweeps, two 3-1 wins, and four splits. The Tritons were easily the No. 1 offensive team in the CCAA, leading the league in hitting (.294), on-base percentage (.406), runs (376), RBI (335), triples (16) and walks (278), among several other categories. They scored 79 runs more than their nearest opponent, and averaged 6.96 runs per game over 54 contests. On the mound, UCSD's seven shutouts were its most in the Division II era (since 2001). The Triton pitching staff finished with the second-best ERA in the CCAA at 3.23, and was first in strikeouts (312).
STRONG FIELDING
UCSD continues a tradition of being strong defensively. The Tritons posted a .974 fielding percentage (1395-581-52) a season ago to rank second in the CCAA, behind only Chico State (.977), and fifth in the entire country in Division II. In 2013, UCSD was 11th nationally with a .972 fielding percentage (1271-500-51).
CRUZ A STAR OF THE YEAR
UCSD junior Troy Cruz was named on Jan. 14 as one of eight San Diego Hall of Champions Amateur Stars of the Year for 2014. A local product out of Chula Vista and Bonita Vista High School, Cruz was a two-time SDHOC Star of the Month during the 2014 calendar year, hitting .326 for the Tritons with 33 runs, 11 doubles, three triples, 39 RBI and a team-best nine steals. On the mound, he posted an 8-3 record with a 2.90 ERA over a team-best 87.0 innings pitched. Read a Triton Q&A with Cruz here.
TRITON NOTES
UCSD is 2-1 in season openers under Eric Newman and 11-3 since moving to Division II status for 2001 ... UCSD is 2-1 in CCAA openers with Newman in charge, with back-to-back wins after a 4-1 loss to Chico State in La Jolla on Feb. 17, 2012 ... The Tritons are an even 7-7 in CCAA openers all-time (since 2001), and 7-1 with six splits in sets to begin the league season ... Troy Cruz (first team), Justin Donatella (second) and Erik Lewis (second) were each named on Jan. 23 to NCBWA Preseason All-West Region teams ... UCSD was picked to place third in the 2015 CCAA regular-season race by the league's 11 head coaches, as announced on Jan. 27, with reigning West Region champion Chico State favored ... All but two players on the 36-man 2015 roster, junior pitcher Alon Leichman (Kibbutz Gezer, Israel) and redshirt freshman Tim White (Stratford, CT), are California natives ... Besides Cruz (Chula Vista/Bonita Vista HS), the five other San Diego products are redshirt freshman catcher Steven Coe (Valley Center/Valley Center HS), and newcomers Troy Forester (Carlsbad/Palomar College/Carlsbad HS), Cameron Kurz (Encinitas/La Costa Canyon HS), Tyler Plantier (Poway/Del Norte HS), and Jack Rupe, Jr. (San Marcos/Mission Hills HS).
HEAD COACH ERIC NEWMAN
Eric Newman begins his fourth season as the UCSD head coach. The 2012 CCAA Coach of the Year has a 97-64 record (72-44 CCAA) in charge of the Tritons and 192-136 overall in his six seasons as a head coach. Newman guided UCSD to the 2012 CCAA regular-season and tournament titles in his first go-around in La Jolla, and a subsequent berth in the NCAA Division II West Regional. His Tritons won a record sixth conference tourney banner last May in Stockton, to again nab the CCAA's automatic berth into the NCAA Championship. Newman has now led the Tritons to two CCAA banners and two NCAA Championship appearances in his three years, as well as two 30-win campaigns. Newman previously spent three years at the helm of Dallas Baptist University from 2004-07.
ABOUT THE WOLVES
Western Oregon (0-0) is located in Monmouth, Ore., and is a member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). The Wolves finished 30-21 overall and 22-10 in league play in 2014, winning their 13th consecutive regular-season GNAC title before falling short to Central Washington at the GNAC Championship. They are rated No. 5 regionally in the preseason by D2 Baseball News, No. 8 by the NCBWA, and picked to finish the five-team GNAC in second. Two WOU players, senior third baseman Garret Harpole and senior right-handed starting pitcher Eric Huson, were chosen to the NCBWA's preseason All-West Region Second Team. A third 2014 All-GNAC First Team selection, senior outfielder Matt Taylor, also returns. Western Oregon will spend each of the first three weekends of the new season in California, with four-game sets at Point Loma (Feb. 5-7) and Cal State Monterey Bay (Feb. 13-15) following their visit to La Jolla. Kellen Walker begins his ninth season on the staff at WOU and his third as the head coach of the Wolves.
SERIES HISTORY
UCSD leads the all-time series, 18-10. The Tritons are 15-10 against the Wolves in La Jolla, 2-0 in Keizer, Ore. (both in NCAA Championship), 1-0 at a neutral site (Chico), and 4-0 in the NCAA postseason. The last meeting came at the 2012 NCAA Division II West Regional, when UCSD topped the hosts for its lone victory of the tournament, 11-1, on May 18, 2012. The teams had opened that campaign against each other with a series in La Jolla, the Wolves taking three out of four. UCSD previously defeated WOU, 6-3, at home during the 2011 NCAA West Regional. That season also began in La Jolla for both, with the Tritons winning the set, 3-1. UCSD swept an early-season four-gamer in 2010. In 2009, the Tritons used an 18-3 thrashing of the Wolves en route to advancing to their first NCAA Division II Championship, as the West Regional was held in Keizer.
GEAR HERE
UCSD Athletics has partnered with Advanced-Online to provide a web-based, on-demand option for UCSD apparel and merchandise. Fans have access to over 600 products that can be processed and shipped within 24 hours. Visit the site at UCSDTritonsGear.com.
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UP NEXT
UCSD continues a season-long 11-game homestand to begin the 2015 campaign with another key non-conference match-up next weekend, hosting No. 5 Colorado Mesa, the 2014 national runner-up, for a two-game set on Friday, Feb. 6 (6 p.m.) and Saturday, Feb. 7 (1 p.m.).
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