CARSON, Calif. - Fourth-year senior Triton hurlers Trevor Scott and Dan Kolodin combined as the 10th-ranked UC San Diego baseball team shut out host Cal State Dominguez Hills for the second day in a row, 2-0, in game two of a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) series at Toro Field on Friday afternoon.
UCSD had blanked CSUDH in Thursday's opener, too, 12-0. The Tritons, who moved to 9-4 overall and 5-1 in the CCAA, have now won six straight over the Toros (5-5, 0-2 CCAA) going back to last year's four-game sweep. They posted back-to-back shutouts to open that set as well, 1-0 and 7-0, both in La Jolla.
Scott (3-1) went the first seven innings Friday and allowed all seven hits and two walks, striking out three. Kolodin took over and retired the six batters he faced for his first save of 2015. The right-hander made it through the eighth on a popout, groundout and called strike three. He then breezed through the heart of the Cal State Dominguez Hills order in the ninth, with a second strikeout.
Scott wriggled out of trouble in each of the first two frames, with a pair of Toros reaching base in both. In the first, he negated back-to-back one-out singles by inducing an infield pop fly and striking out Joshua Flores. The left-hander then registered the first two outs without difficulty in the second on grounders, before a walk and a double, but a fly ball got him out of it.
UCSD got something going offensively for the first time in the third. Brett Levy worked the count full and drew a walk with one away, and Tyler Howsley managed the Tritons' first hit, down the right field line on an 0-2 pitch, to put men at the corners for the top of the order. That's when Brandon Shirley walked to load the bases, and Erik Lewis' sacrifice fly to center field put his team on the scoreboard.
A double play got Scott out of the third after a one-out single, before his only 1-2-3 frame in the fourth.
After the Tritons missed a good opportunity to add to their lead in the sixth, the Toros started off the home portion with a single from Kamran Young. But just as Cal State Dominguez Hills had used a lineout double play to end the top half, UCSD got a lined twin killing to Troy Cruz (Chula Vista/Bonita Vista HS) at third base, with a Flores popout quickly capping that frame.
In the seventh, UCSD again failed to produce the key hit to add to its slim lead, gradually loading the bases with two away after a promising beginning to the frame via walk, single and sacrifice. Lewis flew out to end the threat.
Juan Avena singled to open the home seventh, but was thrown out by leftfielder Justin Flatt as he tried to extend it into a double, with Lewis applying the tag. It marked the first defensive assist of the redshirt freshman's career.
After having its leadoff batter reach base in each of the final four innings, UCSD finally managed to procure its insurance run in the ninth. Senior first baseman Michael Mann singled down the right field line on a 3-2 pitch from starter Fernando Gallegos, who then left the game, was sacrificed to second by pinch-hitter Gradeigh Sanchez, and came around to score on Levy's two-strike double to left. The run provided that little extra comfort for Kolodin against the Toros' heavy hitters.
Cruz was 2-for-3 on the day with his league-leading 19th walk already. Levy finished 1-for-2 with a walk, sacrifice, run scored and RBI. The double was his first extra-base hit on the year. The senior catcher also threw out his first would-be base-stealer of 2015, firing to Howsley to cut down Adrian Guzman in the fifth.
Gallegos (2-2) pitched eight-plus frames for CSUDH, giving up the two runs on six hits and six walks. The junior right-hander struck out four, with two in a 1-2-3 second, and also retired the Tritons in order in the fourth and fifth. Young (3-for-4) and Guzman (2-for-3) accounted for five of the Toros' seven hits on the day.
The series between UCSD and Cal State Dominguez Hills now shifts south for its conclusion on Saturday, Feb. 21, with the league rivals contesting a doubleheader at Triton Ballpark in La Jolla beginning at 2 p.m.
Triton Notes: Erik Lewis extended his reached-base streaks to 13 games this season and 36 going back to the end of 2014 ... Lewis' leadoff walk in the sixth was his 10th of the year ... Justin Flatt saw his reached-base streak ended at 12, leaving Lewis as the lone Triton to reach safely in all 13 contests ... Brandon Shirley's hit streak was snapped at six.
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