AZUSA, Calif. - In a non-conference battle of nationally-ranked West Region foes, No. 17 UC San Diego was upended by No. 22 Azusa Pacific University, 6-2, at the Cougar Baseball Complex on Tuesday night.
The result dropped UCSD to 10-6 overall, while APU improved to 9-2 with a fourth straight win.
The Tritons tried to stage a ninth-inning rally, trailing 6-1 heading in. Jack Larsen drew a four-pitch walk from reliever Michael Shaw, and Justin Flatt singled. Shaw then caught pinch-hitter Zach Friedman looking for the first out. With a second straight pinch-hitter being sent to the box in the form of Christian Leung, UCSD wound up with a run in and players at the corners as APU shortstop Austin Shives threw the ball away on a fielder's choice grounder. Shaw issued a second base on balls to a third pinch-hitter, Tyler Plantier (Poway/Del Norte HS), to bring the tying run to the plate, before exiting. Consecutive strikeouts, however, ended the game.
Senior right-hander Dan Kolodin cruised through the first three frames in perfect fashion on just 35 pitches, with everything on the infield via five strikeouts and four groundouts. His counterpart for the Cougars, junior right-hander Josh Staumont, had some ups and downs and made considerably more throws, but was still effective enough to manage the same end result of zeroes on the scoreboard. The Major League Baseball prospect with a highly-regarded fastball allowed one Triton runner in each of the first four frames, with three walks and a hit-by-pitch, but none of them made it past first base, with Staumont registering six punchouts during the stretch.
Troy Cruz (Chula Vista/Bonita Vista HS) led off the fourth with his league-best 20th walk of the year, and Larsen followed by putting a charge into a 2-1 offering, only for it to land in rightfielder Ryan Santana's glove just in front of the wall.
APU leadoff man Mitch Dergazarian became his side's first base-runner when he reached to begin the home fourth on a fielding error by Kolodin. After Kolodin sent Michael Staudinger back to his dugout on three pitches, Daniel Martin produced the game's first hit, dropping a single into center, with both Cougars advancing into scoring position on a second Triton error for the frame. Dergazarian sprinted home on a wild pitch moments later. Kolodin, however, was able to keep Martin at third as Jordan Brower grounded out sharply to Michael Mann at first, and Santana followed suit with another ground ball.
With Staumont searching for the shutdown inning in the fifth, redshirt freshman catcher Steven Coe (Valley Center/Valley Center HS) promptly opened up with a double down the left field line, and after Tyler Howsley bunted him to third, tied the game on a first-pitch RBI single to center by Gradeigh Sanchez.
Azusa Pacific came right back in the home fifth and advanced Cougars to the corners with only one away for the No. 9 hitter in their order, Adrian Tovalin. The designated hitter lifted a 1-2 pitch over centerfielder Brandon Shirley's head for a go-ahead RBI double, but Shirley combined with second baseman Erik Lewis and Coe to cut down trailing runner Shives at the plate. Tovalin wound up all the way at third on a close play there after the throw home, but Kolodin kept him there.
The home side gained a decent amount of comfort through a three-run seventh, as Santana started things off with a double. With two away and Santana standing on third, Shives provided an RBI single and Tovalin followed with his second RBI double in as many at-bats. Sean Aspinall's pinch-hit single made it a 5-1 game. APU tacked on one final run in the eighth as Joe Huthsing's double brought in Brower.
Kolodin (2-1) went 5.0 innings and allowed two runs, one of them earned, on four hits. He struck out a season-high seven, including two each in the first and third, and walked none. Fellow senior right-hander Javier Carrillo, Jr., retired the Cougars in order on 10 pitches in the sixth, with two strikeouts. UCSD managed just two hits.
Staumont (1-0) gave up one run on just two hits over 6.0 frames, walking three with nine strikeouts. He fanned the side in order in his final inning in the sixth. Billy Sanford got the final out on strikes for his first save. Tovalin finished 2-for-3 with his two doubles, one run and two RBI. Shives added two hits.
UCSD returns to California Collegiate Athletic Association action on the road this weekend with a four-game series at Cal State East Bay in Hayward beginning Friday at 2 p.m. APU opens Pacific West Conference play at Academy of Art, also on Friday.
Triton Notes: With his first-inning walk, Erik Lewis extended his reached-base streaks to 16 games this season and 39 going back to the end of 2014 ... Lewis is the lone Triton to reach safely in all 16 contests ... Steven Coe's leadoff double in the fifth was his first collegiate extra-base hit ... Pablo O'Connor's fifth-inning swipe of second for APU was the first successful steal against Coe on the fifth attempt this season after he had thrown out the first four.
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