LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 15th-ranked UC San Diego baseball team had three pitchers combine on a four-hit shutout in the first game, and got three home runs in the seven-inning nightcap, to sweep a doubleheader from visiting Western Oregon University, 4-0 and 8-3, on Opening Day Sunday at the new-look Triton Ballpark.
Starter Trevor Scott, fellow senior left-hander Chad Rieser and redshirt freshman right-hander John Erhardt teamed up to blank the Wolves in the opener, as two runs each in the fifth and seventh innings amounted to enough offense for the Tritons.
Fourth-year senior catcher Brian Choi's opposite-field grand slam to the scoreboard in right field during a five-run second inning gave UCSD a nice cushion in the second game. Sophomore rightfielder Jack Larsen and redshirt freshman leftfielder Justin Flatt added solo shots in the fourth and sixth, respectively.
The four-game non-conference series between top NCAA Division II West Region contenders resumes Monday in primetime, with first pitch set for 6 p.m. at Triton Ballpark. Entry is free.
Sunday's pregame featured a soft grand opening to the renovated Triton Ballpark, which includes a permanent grandstand, press box and new dugouts among numerous other amenities, with a clubhouse expected to be completed by April. The ceremonial first pitch was thrown jointly by Matt Smith, principal architect at UCSD Facilities Design & Construction and the University's project manager, as well as Tom Daus, former Triton men's basketball player Brett Stuckey, and John Paul Travis, all from the general contractor, Turner Construction.
Game 1
Starting UCSD's opener for the first time in his four years as a Triton, Scott was largely untouchable over his six complete frames, scattering four singles while striking out seven. He retired the Wolves in order in the first, fourth and fifth. Scott only ran into some minor trouble in the third and sixth, allowing two hits in each but managing to wriggle out of it both times.
With a man on first and two gone in the third, WOU leftfielder Matt Taylor singled through the right side. Jake Whisler rounded second and headed for third, only for Larsen to throw him out, making up for an earlier fielding error as junior third baseman Troy Cruz (Chula Vista/Bonita Vista HS) expertly handled the short hop.
In the sixth, Cody Poznanski and Whisler both singled to begin the frame, but Scott got a foulout and flyout before getting Nate Etheridge swinging with his final pitch.
The offense in the fifth came via back-to-back one-out, two-strike RBI doubles from redshirt sophomore centerfielder Brandon Shirley and Larsen. Tyler Howsley, UCSD's sophomore shortstop who had opened the inning with an infield single, scored the first run by a Triton in 2015 on Shirley's hit.
UCSD tacked on the pair of insurance runs in the seventh thanks to an RBI single by Larsen after Flatt had singled to start things off and moved to second on a wild pitch with one away, and a double by senior second baseman Erik Lewis.
Rieser threw the seventh and eighth, retiring six of the seven guys he faced, with three on strikes, including the first two. Erhardt handled the ninth in his college debut and fanned his first batter on three pitches.
Howsley had earlier slipped a leadoff double just inside the line in right to begin the home third, but junior left-handed starter Darrien Moran (0-1) set down the next three Triton batters on a total of three pitches, all on the infield. The double was Howsley's first career extra-base hit in his first at-bat of the season.
Michael Mann teamed up with Scott for a tough second out in the visitor fourth, the senior first baseman gloving the ball toward the hole and scooping in stride to Scott at the bag. The Wolves returned the favor in the next half. With Tritons at first and second and one out, Whisler ranged behind second base to gather Andrew Hobson's ground ball and flip to his shortstop. Moran got the next batter looking.
Game 2
The big second in game two began with Mann's first hit of the afternoon. Lewis and Cruz both worked the count full and walked as UCSD took advantage of some location issues for WOU starter Clark McKitrick (0-1). Steven Coe, a redshirt freshman out of Valley Center (Valley Center HS) who is a catcher by trade but was in the lineup as the designated hitter, followed with an RBI single to center in his first collegiate at-bat. That set things up for Choi, who took one ball and roped the next offering out to right for his second career home run.
“First at-bat of the season, I'm not trying to do too much,” said Choi. “I want to find a pitch that I can handle. With the bases loaded, I'm trying to drive in a run early in the game. The first pitch was a curve ball in the dirt. Second pitch, I knew that I'm a low-ball hitter. He threw a fastball low in the zone, I took a good swing on it, and it went out. I knew it was gone. It was pretty awesome.”
Larsen's second career home run, pulled just inside the foul pole in right field on a 1-2 pitch with two away, gave UCSD a 6-0 bulge in the fourth. Though the Wolves halved their deficit with a three-run fifth that included a two-run Taylor single up the middle, the Tritons put the game back out of reach in the home sixth. Flatt, who started both games in the leadoff spot, opened the inning by launching his first collegiate home run out to right, like Larsen with a 1-2 count on him. Larsen then reached via error, took second on a wild pitch, and came across on Mann's single.
Junior right-hander Alon Leichman (1-0) started and allowed three unearned runs on six hits over 4.2 frames to earn the winning decision in his UCSD debut after taking an injury redshirt in 2014. He struck out three without a walk. Senior right-hander Javier Carrillo, Jr., came on for the remaining 2.1 innings to register his first save as a Triton. Carrillo, Jr., took the mound with Wolves at the corners and the tying run at the plate in a 6-3 game in the fifth, promptly inducing a first-pitch fielder's choice ground ball to get out of the jam.
Triton Notes: UCSD improved to 3-1 in season openers under fourth-year head coach Eric Newman, and 12-3 since moving to Division II status for 2001 ... In the nightcap, UCSD hit three home runs in a game for the first time since a 10-5 loss on Feb. 23, 2012, at Cal Poly Pomona ... The last grand slam by a Triton prior to Brian Choi's came from Justin Rahn late in the 2014 season, in the third inning of a 20-5 home win over Cal Poly Pomona on May 16 during the NCAA West Regional ... Choi's first career home run had come as a true freshman in 2012, for his first collegiate hit ... Troy Cruz drew five walks over the two games, with no other Triton earning more than one free pass ... Michael Mann, who finished with a share of the conference lead with 15 hit-by-pitches a season ago, was plunked for the first time in 2015 late in the first game ... College debuts on the day came from a trio of redshirt freshmen in Steven Coe, John Erhardt and Justin Flatt, with another 2014 redshirt, junior Alon Leichman, making his first appearance in a UCSD uniform.
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