LA JOLLA, Calif. - Four UC San Diego pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout as the 15th-ranked Tritons blanked visiting San Francisco State University, 8-0, in the 2015 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) opener for both baseball programs Friday night at Triton Ballpark.
UCSD improved to 5-2 overall and 1-0 in the CCAA, while SF State fell to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in league play.
The Tritons produced early offense after getting shut out themselves in back-to-back 2-0 losses to fifth-ranked Colorado Mesa the previous Friday and Saturday, striking twice in the opening frame and trotting out to a 6-0 lead after the fourth.
Sophomore rightfielder Jack Larsen provided the two-run single in the first, and added another RBI with a sacrifice fly in the third for a 3-0 edge. The next three UCSD runs were unearned courtesy of successive infield throwing errors with two away, and a subsequent wild pitch by the Gators during a three-run fourth.
Run-scoring doubles by senior second baseman Erik Lewis and junior Zach Friedman in a pinch-hitting role, in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, both roped into the gap in right center, rounded out the scoring.
On the mound, junior right-handed ace Justin Donatella (1-1) allowed just a pair of singles and his first two walks of the year over his 6.0 innings, striking out six. He fanned three in the sixth alone, but still needed to field Mark Lindsay's grounder and flip to first for the third out after Danny Souza had reached on a wild pitch after waving at strike three to lead off. Donatella had three assists in all, bounding off the mound nicely in the second to make a deft bare-handed pick-up and throw. He set the Gators down in order in the second and fifth.
Javier Carrillo, Jr., Jack Rupe, Jr. (San Marcos/Mission Hills HS), and Troy Forester (Carlsbad/Palomar College/Carlsbad HS) each tossed a scoreless inning to share in the shutout. Carrillo, Jr., was facing a hometown team as a San Francisco native. Forester's ninth marked the local product's debut in a Triton uniform. He dialed up a 1-6-3 game-ending twin killing after a called third strike, four-pitch walk and single.
UCSD turned a season-high four double plays on the night, two of them of the 1-6-3 variety started by pitchers, with Donatella also initiating one to end the first. In fact, Donatella had a hand in each of the first five outs for the Tritons, with two on strikes, the double play he started, and the bare-handed comebacker.
In the fourth, Donatella answered a one-out single by inducing a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play. The remaining one came with Carrillo, Jr., on the mound in the seventh, as the senior right-hander wiped out a one-out walk with a ground ball that went around the horn.
Redshirt freshman leftfielder Justin Flatt put together a remarkable one-out at-bat in the seventh, fouling off a pair of two-strike offerings before lining a triple over the centerfielder's head. That's when Friedman stepped up in place of first baseman Michael Mann, and hit the first pitch he saw hard to right center to score Flatt. The triple was the first of Flatt's college career, with Friedman's double his first extra-base knock as a Triton.
Junior third baseman Troy Cruz (Chula Vista/Bonita Vista HS) had earlier provided his first extra-base hit of the new campaign in the first, dropping a one-out double just inside the right field line on a 1-2 count in between Lewis getting hit by a pitch from Gator starter Preston Tarter (0-1), and Larsen's two-run single to right.
Lewis reached base in four of his five trips to the plate, going 1-for-2 with the double, two walks, the hit-by-pitch, and two runs scored. Larsen, batting in the clean-up spot for the first time in 2015, was 1-for-3 with his three RBI, increasing his team-best total now to eight. Sophomore centerfielder Brandon Shirley, the Tritons' leadoff hitter for the first time this year, went 1-for-3 with a walk, two runs, and his second stolen base in two tries.
UCSD and SF State continue their four-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 14. First pitch for the nine-inning opener is set for 12 p.m. at Triton Ballpark. The nightcap is scheduled for a shortened seven frames.
Triton Notes: UCSD improved to 3-1 in CCAA openers under head coach Eric Newman, with a third straight win, and is now 8-7 since joining the league for the 2001 season ... Friday marked just the second time in seven games in 2015 in which the Tritons played error-free baseball ... UCSD turned four double plays in a game for the first time since Feb. 20, 2014, at Cal Poly Pomona, a contest also started on the mound by Justin Donatella ... Donatella avenged one of his two losing decisions from a year ago, having only taken one loss in CCAA play at SF State in 2014 ... The win was the 10th of Donatella's career ... UCSD now has two shutouts already in seven contests, having posted seven in 2014, a high for the Division II era ... Justin Flatt's seventh-inning triple extended his team-best hit streak to seven games ... With his fourth-inning walk, Troy Cruz increased his league-leading total to 11.
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