LA JOLLA, Calif. - Fifteenth-ranked UC San Diego suffered a 3-0 setback to San Francisco State University in the finale of a four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) baseball series Sunday at Triton Ballpark.
The Tritons (7-3, 3-1 CCAA) had already clinched the first league set for either team this season by taking the first three games, 8-0 on Friday night, and 12-4 and 2-1 in a doubleheader sweep on Saturday.
All three of UCSD's losses in 2015 have now been shutouts, with the Tritons having only been blanked once in 54 games a year ago. They previously dropped back-to-back 2-0 decisions to fifth-ranked Colorado Mesa on Feb. 6 and Feb. 7. Like the second one of those match-ups, UCSD put at least two runners on base in each of the final four innings Sunday, but were unable to come up with the clutch hit. The Tritons stranded a season-high 13 on the afternoon.
SF State pushed across single runs in the second, fifth and ninth. Peter Reyes and Cory Davis combined on the five-hit shutout. Reyes (1-1) went the first 5.2 innings, scattering three singles while striking out a pair. Davis, who was second in the CCAA with 13 saves a season ago, earned his first of 2015, taking over for the final 3.1 frames with two hits against and four strikeouts. Both walked four.
With the Tritons trailing 2-0 in the sixth, Troy Cruz (Chula Vista/Bonita Vista HS) walked with one away and Justin Flatt followed suit with two gone. That's when Davis came on and got Michael Mann to roll into a fielder's choice to shortstop.
The home seventh saw Gradeigh Sanchez lead off with a pinch-hit bunt single back to Davis, who later plunked Brandon Shirley with two outs. Senior second baseman Erik Lewis then got his bat on a 1-0 offering, but with the ball tailing away opposite field toward left center, Gator centerfielder Nick Jackson made the diving grab.
Cruz and Jack Larsen drew successive walks to begin the eighth as Davis unleashed 10 straight balls to open the frame. The senior right-hander battled back from a 2-0 count to Flatt, however, and caught him looking at three straight. Mann flied out, and after Tyler Plantier (Poway/Del Norte HS) earned a five-pitch free pass to load the bases, senior catcher Brett Levy flied out to right.
SF State added an insurance score in the ninth as pinch-runner Nazareth Thibodeaux stole second after replacing Ryan Burke, who had singled to lead off, and then moved to third on a fly ball for the second out, and trotted home on Danny Souza's RBI single through the left side from the No. 8 spot in the Gator order. Souza was a killer on the day, finishing 3-for-4 with three singles, all grounders through the infield, two RBI and a stolen base.
Despite the added deficit, UCSD still managed a rally in its last turn. Shortstop Tyler Howsley singled to start things off, and Shirley walked. Davis then threw three called strikes in succession again, this time to Lewis, and got Cruz to wave at a 3-2 offering after falling behind, 3-1. Larsen's flyout ended the drama.
UCSD had also come close to scoring in the very first frame. Shirley saw seven pitches from Reyes, singled through the left side, and took second on a failed pickoff attempt. Lewis walked and the Tritons looked to be in business early, but after Cruz grounded out to advance both runners, Reyes retired the next two batters.
Cruz (1-1) made his second start of the season on the mound, throwing the first six complete innings. He gave up the first two runs on four hits and two walks, with four strikeouts. He retired nine batters in a row after Burke's RBI single in the second, including consecutive 1-2-3 efforts in a quick third and fourth on just 17 pitches.
SF State got on the board in the second as Burke poked a single just inside the right field line after Bryce Cherry had tripled to right to begin the second. Larsen earned his second outfield assist of the young season, throwing out Burke attempting to stretch his hit into a double. It was 2-0 in the fifth when Garrett Heisinger drew a nine-pitch walk with one gone, and smartly took second on a deep fly ball to right for the second out. That move allowed him to score on Souza's two-out single.
Howsley finished 2-for-3 with a walk and his first stolen base of the year. With two more walks, Cruz increased his league-best total to 15 already in just 10 games. The run that Chad Rieser gave up in the ninth was his first of 2015, now in 9.1 innings over five outings. He went 2.2 frames Sunday with three strikeouts to give him 10.
Mann had two tough pick-ups on short hops at first base on a pair of ground balls to third base in the first. Third baseman Andrew Hobson made a diving stop to his left to deny Souza a leadoff single in the third. UCSD played error-free baseball for the third time this season.
UCSD concludes a season-opening, season-long 11-game homestand this Tuesday night, Feb. 17, against crosstown NCAA Division II West Region rival Point Loma. First pitch at Triton Ballpark is set for 6 p.m.
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