THE SCHEDULE
Game 11
vs. Point Loma (6-2, 0-0 PacWest)
Tuesday, Feb. 17 • 6 p.m.
Triton Ballpark • La Jolla
Live Audio/Video • Live Stats

Games 12-15
at Cal State Dominguez Hills (5-3, 0-0 CCAA)
Thursday, Feb. 19 • 2 p.m.
Toro Field • Carson
Live Audio • Live Stats

Friday, Feb. 20 • 2 p.m.
Toro Field • Carson
Live Stats

vs. Cal State Dominguez Hills
Saturday, Feb. 21 • 2 p.m. (DH)
Triton Ballpark • La Jolla
Live Video • Live Stats

The UC San Diego baseball team, which moved from No. 15 up into the top 10 nationally on Monday now at No. 10, has a five-game week ahead. The Tritons first conclude their season-opening, season-long 11-game homestand on Tuesday night, Feb. 17, hosting city rival Point Loma (6-2) in primetime in a key non-conference affair with postseason implications regionally. First pitch at Triton Ballpark is set for 6 p.m. With UCSD having also jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 in Monday's latest NCBWA West Region poll, the Sea Lions moved into the top 10 there at No. 5.

UCSD then returns to California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play against Cal State Dominguez Hills (5-3, 0-0 CCAA), and faces its first road activity of 2015. The four-game series begins at Toro Field in Carson with single meetings on Thursday, Feb. 19, and Friday, Feb. 20, each at 2 p.m. The set then shifts south to Triton Ballpark for a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 21, also starting at 2 p.m. A seven-inning nightcap will follow approximately 30-40 minutes after a regulation nine-inning contest. UCSD is 7-3 overall on the young season, entirely at home, and 3-1 in CCAA play.

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, one each day, will be present for home games.

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. 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 Tuesday night's meeting with crosstown foe Point Loma. The next full broadcast (of nine anticipated) is 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. Thursday's game at Cal State Dominguez Hills can be listened to online through the Toro Sports Network and Ustream. 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 @UCSDbsb! 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. In the publication's first in-season listing released on Feb. 16, the Tritons moved into the top 10, at No. 10. They were 14th in the D2 Baseball News poll as of Feb. 10, and 19th in Perfect Game's preseason edition (Jan. 28), with PG's first in-season listing set to come out on Feb. 18. 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 were moved up from No. 2 to No. 1 in the West by the NCBWA on Feb. 16, and were rated No. 2 behind Chico State by D2 Baseball News as of Feb. 10.

LAST TIME OUT
UCSD and SF State were the first two CCAA teams to open conference play this past weekend, with the Tritons winning the four-game set, 3-1, in La Jolla. Four pitchers, led by starter Justin Donatella (6.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 6 SO), combined on a four-hit shutout, 8-0, in Friday night's opener. UCSD then swept Saturday's twin bill, 12-4 and 2-1 in seven innings, rallying in the nightcap in the home fourth after the Gators had taken their first lead of the weekend in the top half. SFSU then managed a 3-0 getaway day triumph in Sunday's finale, holding the Tritons to just five hits, all singles, with a season-high 13 runners stranded on base, including at least two in each of the final four frames.

A LOOK AROUND THE CCAA
UCSD is atop the 11-team CCAA standings, with nine squads yet to play a league contest. All will be in CCAA action this week, with the exception of SF State, which hosts Fresno Pacific in a three-game non-conference series. As a full conference slate is on tap for the first time, the CCAA baseball scoreboard makes its 2015 season debut. Bookmark it and follow along here.

LEAGUE-LEADING PITCHING
UCSD currently has the top pitching staff statistically in the CCAA, leading the league with a miniscule 1.67 ERA and 78 strikeouts. The Tritons have allowed just 21 runs in 10 games, with only 16 of them earned. Trevor Scott (2-1) boasts an ERA of 1.47 over his first three starts, and paces the squad with 18.1 innings pitched and a league-best (tied) 18 strikeouts. Fellow senior Dan Kolodin (2-0, 1.20 ERA) has allowed one hit over his past two outings, encompassing 10 complete frames. Junior ace Justin Donatella's (1-1) ERA is at 0.90 through two starts, with 14 strikeouts. Having appeared a team-best five times, Chad Rieser (0.96 ERA) gave up his first run of 2015 in his last inning on Feb. 15. He has thrown 9.1 frames and has 10 strikeouts in near-flawless relief work. The Tritons as a team have issued only 14 walks in 2015.

CRUZ OVER TO FIRST BASE
Junior All-American Troy Cruz has already drawn 15 walks in 10 games this season, tops in the CCAA. He is well on pace to break former Triton standout and current first-year assistant coach Nick La Face's single-season program record of 47 bases on balls, set last year. Cruz carries a team-best on-base percentage of .550, which ranks fourth in the league. UCSD players again hold the top three spots in the conference in walks, as Jack Larsen and Erik Lewis follow Cruz with eight and seven, respectively. A year ago, it was La Face, Lewis (42) and Justin Rahn (35).

YOUNG OUTFIELD
In each of the first 10 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. He served as the leadoff hitter for the first six contests, with Shirley taking over at the top of the order for the last four. Flatt has generated the longest hit streak thus far by a Triton in 2015, hitting safely in each of the first eight games before going 0-for-1 in the doubleheader nightcap with SF State on Feb. 14. He and Erik Lewis are the only two Tritons to reach base in all 10 games so far. Larsen shares the CCAA lead with 10 RBI.

VETERAN INFIELD
Over the first 10 games, the Tritons have generally started the exact same veteran infield. Just like in 2014, it's been Troy Cruz at third base, Erik Lewis at second and Michael Mann at first, with Tyler Howsley, a part-time starter at shortstop as a freshman a year ago, taking over that spot for good. The only exceptions have been a pair of starts at third for junior Andrew Hobson when Cruz has been on the mound, and a first start as a Triton at first base for Pierce College transfer Zach Friedman in the doubleheader nightcap with SF State on Feb. 14. Brett Levy has been behind the plate for seven of the first 10 games, with fellow fourth-year senior Brian Choi drawing a pair of starts.

TEN CCAA SETS WITHOUT A LOSS
With a three-games-to-one victory over visiting SF State to begin the CCAA schedule last weekend, UCSD has now gone 10 straight league sets without defeat. The Tritons completed the 2014 CCAA slate without suffering a series loss, with three sweeps, two 3-1 wins, and four splits. They were last bested 3-1 at Cal State Monterey Bay to end the 2013 campaign.

POWERFUL START
The Tritons hit five home runs during their season-opening four-game series with Western Oregon, having needed 38 contests to achieve that total in 2014. 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.

STRONG FIELDING
UCSD continues a tradition of being strong defensively. The Tritons are currently fielding at a .971 clip (258-112-11) for 2015 after a slow start by their standards. They 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 at .972.

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.

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 3-1 in CCAA openers with Newman in charge, with three straight wins after a 4-1 loss to Chico State in La Jolla on Feb. 17, 2012 ... The Tritons are 8-7 in CCAA openers all-time (since 2001), and 8-1 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.

ROSTER NOTES
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 ... UCSD returns a quartet of all-conference performers from a year ago in junior All-American and two-time All-CCAA First Team selection Troy Cruz, senior Erik Lewis (first team), junior Justin Donatella (first) and senior Michael Mann (third) ... All but two players on the 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 ... Tyler Howsley, Jack Larsen and Gradeigh 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 wraps up a season-opening, season-long 11-game homestand this Tuesday night. 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.

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 104-67 record (75-45 CCAA) in charge of the Tritons and 199-139 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 SEA LIONS
Point Loma (6-2, 0-0 PacWest) has won back-to-back non-conference sets, both 3-1. The Sea Lions first took a home series against Western Oregon, Feb. 5-7, after the Wolves had been swept in four in La Jolla. They then took on CCAA opponent Cal State San Bernardino last week, splitting the first two meetings at home before sweeping Saturday's doubleheader in San Bernardino. The Sea Lions were picked to finish sixth in the nine-team Pacific West Conference. Joe Schaefer is in his seventh season in charge at his alma mater.

SERIES HISTORY
The Tritons lead the all-time series between the crosstown rivals, 44-38-1. They last met three times in 2013. UCSD took a 6-5 extra-inning decision in walk-off fashion in La Jolla on Feb. 12, with Point Loma edging the Tritons on its home turf, 3-2, on April 2. The Tritons nabbed the rubber game, 7-3, back in La Jolla on April 9. The teams had contested a pair of preseason exhibitions the two years prior, with UCSD posting shutout victories of 6-0 and 5-0 at Triton Ballpark on Jan. 30, 2012, and Jan. 29, 2011, respectively. The previous regular-season match-up came in La Jolla on Feb. 2, 2010, with the Sea Lions besting then-third-ranked UCSD, 8-6.

ABOUT THE TOROS
Cal State Dominguez Hills (5-3, 0-0 CCAA) is coming off of a 2-1 split-venue series loss to No. 25 California Baptist last week. The Toros took the opener, 2-1, in Riverside, before suffering a 5-4 home loss and a 7-5 defeat back in Riverside in the Saturday rubber game. They are hitting .315 as a team, with a 3.00 ERA and a .974 fielding percentage. CSUDH has a league-best nine home runs, with three by Joshua Flores. Senior left-hander Winston Lavendier (2-0, 0.48 ERA) leads the CCAA with 18.2 innings pitched. George Wing, the all-time winningest head coach in Cal State Dominguez Hills history with 447 wins in 18 years in charge from 1989-2006, has returned as the program's first-year interim head coach in 2015.

SERIES HISTORY
UCSD leads the all-time series between these teams, 43-37, and holds a 26-12 advantage over the last 38 meetings since 2007. The Tritons swept the four games a year ago, the first two in La Jolla in shutout fashion, 1-0 and 7-0. They then swept a doubleheader in Carson, 9-7 and 12-4, the nightcap halted by darkness after six innings. UCSD dropped three of four in 2013, splitting the first two in Carson (5-1, 2-8) before suffering a doubleheader sweep in La Jolla (9-2, 3-1). The Tritons took three of four in 2012, winning a pair of contests in La Jolla, 3-1 and 15-6, sandwiched around a doubleheader split in Carson (14-2, 0-1).

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.

SOCIAL MEDIA - #TritonsRising
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UP NEXT
UCSD plays five games on the road next week, beginning with a single primetime meeting with West Region contender Azusa Pacific on Tuesday, Feb. 24 (6 p.m.). The Tritons then head north to Hayward for a CCAA series at Cal State East Bay over the weekend.

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