THE SCHEDULE
Games 7-10
vs. SF State (1-2, 0-0 CCAA)
Friday, Feb. 13 • 6 p.m.
Triton Ballpark • La Jolla
Live Audio/Video • Live Stats
Saturday, Feb. 14 • 12 p.m. (DH)
Triton Ballpark • La Jolla
Live Video • Live Stats
Sunday, Feb. 15 • 11 a.m.
Triton Ballpark • La Jolla
Live Video • Live Stats
The 15th-ranked UC San Diego baseball team continues a season-opening, season-long 11-game homestand while also beginning the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) portion of its 2015 campaign this weekend against San Francisco State University. The league foes kick off their four-game series at Triton Ballpark with a single primetime affair at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 13. First pitch for the doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 14, is scheduled for 12 p.m., with a seven-inning nightcap following approximately 30-40 minutes after a regulation nine-inning contest. Sunday's finale starts at 11 a.m. UCSD is 4-2 on the young season, all at home, with SF State 1-2.
TICKET PRICES AND NEW ADMISSION POLICIES
General admission tickets to all regular-season home games at Triton Ballpark are $5. UCSD students are admitted FREE with valid identification. New admission policies are in place at the facility following off-season renovation. Dogs and other pets are no longer allowed at Triton Ballpark, nor are coolers. An array of food trucks will be present for home games. This Friday and Saturday, we welcome Frida's Cocina, gourmet Mexican food. On Sunday, one of the University's food trucks, Flavors of the World, returns to serve sliders and french fries, accepting Visa, Mastercard, TritonCash and Dining Dollars.
PARKING INFO
Parking on the UCSD campus is free on weekends, but a permit is required and strongly recommended for weeknight contests. They can be purchased at the machine near the entrance to the Triton Ballpark parking lot. Please be aware of the danger of foul balls when parking vehicles, and also that parking is slightly limited by ongoing construction. Overflow parking is available in the lots beyond the right field wall, still along Voigt Drive.
LIVE COVERAGE
All UCSD home games at Triton Ballpark feature a live online video stream and live stats. Select games will additionally have audio commentary, provided again this year by former Triton pitcher (2007-08) Tim Strombel (@Timmy2Sides), including this Friday night's CCAA opener with SF State. The next couple (of nine anticipated) full broadcasts are the crosstown meeting with Point Loma next Tuesday, Feb. 17, and the series opener with fierce rival and reigning West Region champion Chico State on Friday, March 6. The audio/video is free, but does require registration and a login. Some road contests will also have video. All have live stats. Fans can access live coverage for home and away dates from the UCSD Schedule/Results page. Starting lineups, live between-inning updates and other gameday news and notes can be found by following Triton Baseball on the UCSD Athletics Twitter handle (@UCSDtritons).
THE NEW TRITON BALLPARK
Triton Ballpark on East Campus at UCSD has a brand-new look outside the foul lines in 2015. The extensive renovation was completed enough for competition to take place as scheduled with an Opening Day doubleheader on Sunday, Feb. 1. Some of the main features include a permanent grandstand to seat just over 500, a press box, new sunken dugouts, an area for food trucks, and restrooms, among several other amenities. Arguably the crown jewel of the project, a beautiful clubhouse down the right field line, is expected to be completed by April. The first pitch at the new Triton Ballpark came from Trevor Scott, the first hit and RBI by Brandon Shirley, the first run by Tyler Howsley, and the first home run in the form of a grand slam by Brian Choi. View photo galleries from the ballpark construction here and Opening Day here.
TRITON BASEBALL IS ON TWITTER
As of Feb. 1, Triton Baseball is now on Twitter @BaseballUCSD! Be sure to give them a follow. Gameday info and updates will still predominantly come from the official UCSD Athletics Twitter handle @UCSDtritons. The majority of the Triton coaching staff, including head coach Eric Newman (@CoachEricNewman), are also on Twitter. Those links can be found at the bottom.
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 remain in 14th in the D2 Baseball News poll, and were 19th in Perfect Game's preseason edition (Jan. 28). UCSD was at No. 12 in the preseason National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) poll (Jan. 28). 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 TIME OUT
UCSD dropped both meetings with fifth-ranked 2014 national runner-up Colorado Mesa at Triton Ballpark last Friday night and Saturday afternoon, Feb. 6-7. Scores were an identical 2-0, as the Tritons managed just eight hits over the two games. The pitching was still a highlight, however, as UCSD in turn allowed only 11 hits while striking out 21. Justin Donatella (7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB) and Dan Kolodin split the opener, with Donatella fanning eight over four innings in his season debut, and Kolodin taking over for five no-hit frames (0 BB, 5 K), retiring 15 of the 16 batters he faced. On Saturday, Trevor Scott made his second start of 2015 (6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K), with Chad Rieser (1.2, BB, K) and Alon Leichman (1.0, H) on for shutout relief.
TRITONS SWEEP SEASON'S FIRST CCAA AWARDS
Trevor Scott and Jack Larsen were named on Feb. 3 as the season's first CCAA Baseball Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively. It was the first career weekly conference award for each. Scott tossed six complete frames, scattering four singles without a walk, in a 4-0 combined shutout over Western Oregon in the season opener on Feb. 1. Larsen was the offensive star of the doubleheader sweep that day over the visiting Wolves, finishing 4-for-8 with a home run, two doubles, three RBI and three runs scored.
POWERFUL START
The Tritons have five home runs already this season through six games. In 2014, it took them 38 contests to reach that total. They had 11 all year. Prior to the 8-3 victory in the nightcap with Western Oregon on Feb. 1, the previous time that UCSD hit three home runs in a single game was a 10-5 loss at Cal Poly Pomona on Feb. 23, 2012. Brian Choi's grand slam was the first by a Triton since Justin Rahn's against CPP in the third inning of a 20-5 triumph during the 2014 NCAA West Regional in La Jolla on May 16, 2014.
CRUZ OVER TO FIRST BASE
Junior All-American Troy Cruz has already drawn 10 walks in just six games this season, tops in the CCAA. Cruz is hitting a team-best .462 (6-for-13), and combined with the 10 free bases, carries an early-season on-base percentage of .696. UCSD players held the top three spots in the conference in walks a year ago, led by a single-season program-record 47 by current first-year assistant coach Nick La Face. Senior second baseman Erik Lewis was next with 42, and Justin Rahn third (35). Seven of the top 11 on the CCAA walks chart are currently Tritons, with Jack Larsen and Michael Mann behind Cruz at five each, followed by Lewis and Justin Flatt with four apiece, and Steven Coe and Tyler Howsley both with three.
YOUNG OUTFIELD
In each of the first six games this season, UCSD has started the same outfield, from left to right, of redshirt freshman Justin Flatt, redshirt sophomore Brandon Shirley and true sophomore Jack Larsen. The trio has combined for four of the Tritons' five home runs, with Flatt producing the first two of his college career to pace the team, from the leadoff spot in the batting order.
VETERAN INFIELD
Over the first six games, the Tritons have also started the exact same veteran infield, with the exception of the series finale against Western Oregon on Feb. 3, when Andrew Hobson began the game at third base in place of Troy Cruz, who started on the mound. Otherwise, just like in 2014, it's been Cruz at third, Erik Lewis at second and Michael Mann at first, with Tyler Howsley, a part-time starter at shortstop as a freshman in 2014, taking over that spot for good.
STELLAR PITCHING
UCSD pitching has allowed just 13 runs in the first six games, with only nine of them earned, for a current team ERA of 1.56. Trevor Scott boasts an early-season ERA of just 1.46 over his first two starts. Alon Leichman and Chad Rieser have each tossed 5.2 innings without allowing an earned run, with Rieser yet to give up even an unearned run. He has seven strikeouts in near-flawless relief work. Scott leads the team with 14 strikeouts, and has not walked anyone. The Tritons as a team have 50 strikeouts to just four walks so far in 2015.
LAST SEASON
UCSD is coming off of a successful campaign in which it went 38-16 overall and 26-10 in the CCAA, good for a third-place finish in the 11-team league after being picked 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, catcher/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 keeps 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 all outfield options again. Sophomore Tyler Howsley takes over for Tuck at shortstop. He, 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 CCAA favorite Chico State at home for the second year in a row, with that four-game series between archrivals 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-gamer, 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.
NO CCAA SERIES LOSSES IN 2014
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 more runs 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). The Tritons are off to a bit of a slow start defensively by their standards in 2015, fielding at a .969 clip (156-63-7) so far, with only one error-free effort over the first six contests.
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, helping guide UCSD to a record sixth CCAA tournament title and into the NCAA postseason. Cruz will be recognized at the 69th Annual Salute to the Champions on Monday, Feb. 23, at the Town and Country Resort & Convention Center. Read a Triton Q&A with him here.
TRITON NOTES
UCSD is 3-1 in season openers under Eric Newman and 12-3 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 was chosen to the NCBWA Preseason All-America Third Team at the utility spot, with Cruz (first team), Justin Donatella (second) and Erik Lewis (second) each named to NCBWA Preseason All-West Region teams (Jan. 23) ... 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) ... Plantier is the son of Phil Plantier, who played eight seasons in Major League Baseball for five franchises, and served as the hitting coach of the hometown San Diego Padres from 2011-14.
HEAD COACH ERIC NEWMAN
Eric Newman is in his fourth season as the UCSD head coach. The 2012 CCAA Coach of the Year has a 101-66 record (72-44 CCAA) in charge of the Tritons and 196-138 overall in his six-plus 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 trip to the NCAA Division II West Regional. His Tritons won a record sixth conference tourney crown last May in Stockton, to again nab the CCAA's automatic berth into the NCAA Championship. With UCSD earning the region's top seed, Triton Ballpark played host to the 2014 NCAA West Regional. Newman has now led the Tritons to two CCAA banners and two NCAA postseason appearances in his three years, as well as two 30-win campaigns. He previously spent three seasons at the helm of Dallas Baptist University from 2004-07.
ABOUT THE GATORS
SF State (1-2, 0-0 CCAA) is coming off of a three-game split-venue series loss against local foe Holy Names. The Gators were swept in a home doubleheader on Feb. 1, before posting an 8-3 victory at Laney College in Oakland two nights later. They had their four games at home with Central Washington cancelled last weekend due to expected severe weather in the Bay Area. Senior right-hander Cory Davis was second in the conference with his 13 saves among a team-high 25 appearances a year ago. Mike Cummins is in his sixth season in charge at SF State.
SERIES HISTORY
UCSD is 38-16 against SF State since joining the CCAA for the 2001 season, and 21-7 over the past 28 meetings. This includes a 20-8 mark in San Francisco and an 18-8 record in La Jolla, with four-game sweeps in 2007 and 2009. The teams split their four games in San Francisco last April, as well as at Triton Ballpark in 2013. UCSD took the previous series in the Bay Area in March of 2012, three games to one. The only time that SF State has bested the Tritons in a series was in UCSD's first year in the league, 2001, sweeping a shortened two-game set in La Jolla.
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 concludes this season-opening, season-long 11-game homestand on Tuesday night, Feb. 17, hosting crosstown rival Point Loma for a 6 p.m. match-up at Triton Ballpark. The Tritons will then contest a four-game, split-venue CCAA series with Cal State Dominguez Hills, Feb. 19-21.
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