LA JOLLA, Calif. - Tenth-ranked UC San Diego used a six-run second on its way to scoring 13 times in the first four frames of a 19-0 defeat of Cal State Dominguez Hills in game one of a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) baseball doubleheader Saturday at Triton Ballpark. Having thus clinched a second straight series victory to begin the conference slate, the Tritons dropped the seven-inning nightcap, 3-1.
With the day's results, UCSD moved to 10-5 overall and 6-2 in the CCAA. CSUDH remained even at 6-6 overall, and began its league account, now at 1-3. The Tritons had taken the first two meetings in Carson on Thursday and Friday afternoon, both also in shutout fashion, 12-0 and 2-0, respectively. Prior to Saturday's second game, they had won seven in a row against the Toros, with five shutouts.
The three-game shutout streak this week is believed to be the longest in UCSD history. Only five prior instances were found in the archives, going back through the 1980 season, of even two successive shutouts, most recently achieved last year, also against Cal State Dominguez Hills, on March 6 (1-0) and March 7 (7-0) in La Jolla.
The Tritons managed one other mark, as the nine hit-by-pitches they benefitted from in the first game, was a Division II-era standard, and almost assuredly another all-time program record. UCSD previously had four occasions in which it was hit seven times in a single contest, in 2007, 2005, 2004 and 2003. The Tritons fell short of the Division II record of 12, set by rival Chico State in 1995 against Azusa Pacific.
Game One
The 19 runs in the opener were a season high for the Tritons, who entered the contest with nine hit-by-pitches on the year, and doubled that total over the course of nine innings. The Toros added four fielding errors, five walks, one wild pitch, one passed ball, and a balk that brought in the game's first run.
Junior right-hander Alon Leichman (2-0) went a season-long 5.0 innings and matched his best with five strikeouts while earning his second win in his third start of 2015. He allowed just three singles and did not walk a batter. Jack Rupe, Jr. (San Marcos/Mission Hills HS), Travis Roberts, Troy Forester (Carlsbad/Palomar College/Carlsbad HS) and Anthony Sommer each threw a frame the rest of the way, with Roberts making his collegiate debut after serving as a team manager in 2014.
Offensively, junior All-American Troy Cruz (Chula Vista/Bonita Vista HS) was a perfect 4-for-4 with a first-inning double, two runs and three RBI. Sophomore Christian Leung, the Triton designated hitter, wound up 3-for-6 with a double for his first extra-base hit of the year, two runs and two RBI. The hit totals for Cruz and Leung were both single-game highs for their respective careers. Jack Larsen added a pair of RBI to increase his league-leading total to 17. Michael Mann drove in three.
Leichman worked out of trouble in each of the first two frames during a brief period when the game was close. In the first, CSUDH loaded the bases on back-to-back singles and a hit-by-pitch, all with one away, but Fernando Gallegos rolled into a 6-4-3 double play, with nice pick-ups by both Tyler Howsley at shortstop, and Mann at first. It was one of three twin killings in the contest for UCSD.
Kevin Lenik reached via error and advanced to second to lead things off in the second. After Leichman struck out the next batter, however, Lenik was thrown out trying to steal, and Spencer Maxey flied out. UCSD broke it open in the home half.
Game Two
In the game-two loss, UCSD needed just two arms, with Cruz and senior left-hander Chad Rieser combining for three separate innings in which they struck out the Toros in order. Cruz did it in the fourth, before Rieser set down all six batters on strikes in the sixth and seventh. Both hurlers wound up with career highs in strikeouts, with eighth and six, respectively. Cruz (1-2) allowed all three runs over 4.2 innings, on eight hits and one walk. Rieser in fact retired all seven batters he faced, getting Juan Avena to fly out to end the fifth with a man at third, before his strikeout streak, with four of those swinging and the other two looking. He has 16 punchouts on the year.
CSUDH struck first in the opening frame, finally breaking a 27.2-inning scoreless stretch in the series. After Cruz fanned the first two batters, Kamran Young doubled to left, and on a 1-2 offering, Brady Conlan poked an RBI single to center.
UCSD tied it in the fourth, loading the bases on Brandon Shirley's slapped two-strike single to right, a base on balls for Erik Lewis, and a bunt single by Cruz, before Larsen drew his 12th walk for his CCAA-best 18th RBI. The Tritons were unable to gain the ascendancy, however, as starter Kevin Brown (1-0) struck out the next two.
The visitors then regained the lead in the fifth. With two outs and a runner at second, Young was walked intentionally, but Conlan made the Tritons pay with a two-run triple into the gap in right center on the second pitch he saw from Cruz, who then gave way to Rieser.
UCSD threatened in its final turn, as Mann worked an eight-pitch leadoff walk, and Zach Friedman was plunked with one gone. Once again, Brown got back-to-back strikeouts to close the door. He scattered three singles and walked four in the complete-game effort, striking out nine.
Triton Notes: Erik Lewis extended his reached-base streaks to 15 games this season and 38 going back to the end of 2014 ... Lewis is the lone Triton to reach safely in all 15 contests ... The 19-run gap in the opener marked UCSD's largest margin of victory since a 26-5 win in seven innings at Cal State Monterey Bay on April 15, 2007 ... Having thrown a runner out at third base in the second inning of the first game, redshirt freshman catcher Steven Coe (Valley Center/Valley Center HS) is now a perfect 4-for-4 in throwing out would-be base-stealers in his first on-the-field season of college baseball ... Another redshirt freshman, Tim White, collected his first career hit in the form of a sixth-inning single to left center in game one in his second collegiate at-bat ... White was also hit by a pitch twice, reaching base in all three plate appearances, while handling all four defensive chances cleanly at second base, completing the clean relay on two double plays ... True freshman Tyler Plantier (Poway/Del Norte HS) went 2-for-3 with a run scored and three RBI in that first game, contributing the first hit, run and RBI of his career.
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