THE SCHEDULE
Games 25-27
vs. Cal State San Bernardino (5-20, 3-13 CCAA)
Saturday, March 21 • 6 p.m.
Triton Ballpark • La Jolla
Live Audio/Video • Live Stats

at Cal State San Bernardino
Sunday, March 22 • 12 p.m. (DH)
Fiscalini Field • San Bernardino
Live Stats

After completing winter quarter final exams this week, the 15th-ranked UC San Diego baseball team begins its Spring Break with three California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) games this weekend against Cal State San Bernardino. The Tritons (17-7, 13-3 CCAA), winners of a season-high five straight, first welcome the Coyotes to La Jolla for a primetime opener on Saturday night, March 21. First pitch at Triton Ballpark is set for 6 p.m., with junior ace Justin Donatella (4-1, 0.28 ERA) set to take the hill again with a remarkable 31.0-inning shutout streak intact. The teams will then contest a doubleheader at Fiscalini Field in San Bernardino beginning at 12 p.m. on Sunday, March 21. A seven-inning nightcap will follow approximately 30-40 minutes after a regulation nine-inning game. The fourth and final game of the series is scheduled for Tuesday, April 21, back at Triton Ballpark. UCSD is 12-5 at home and 5-2 on the road.

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. One of the University's food trucks, Flavors of the World, will be on hand for Saturday night's game against Cal State San Bernardino, serving a selection of sliders, sides and beverages, and accepting Triton Cash and Dining Dollars, in addition to Visa and MasterCard.

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). The next full broadcast (of 10) is Saturday's meeting with Cal State San Bernardino. The audio/video is free, but does require registration and a login. Some road contests will also have video, though Sunday's doubleheader in San Bernardino will not. All have live stats. 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 MATCH-UP BY THE NUMBERS
UCSD is third in the CCAA in team batting average (.291), first in ERA (2.34) and seventh in fielding percentage (.962). Cal State San Bernardino is tied for ninth in hitting (.240), 10th in ERA (5.38), and tied for eighth in fielding (.961).

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. Read details here. Arguably the crown jewel of the project, the beautiful Marye Anne Fox Clubhouse down the right field line, was introduced to the players this past Tuesday, March 17. The official dedication will take place on April 10. 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 BACK ON TWITTER
As of Feb. 1, Triton Baseball is back 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
In the four national polls for the NCAA Division II, UCSD is currently rated No. 15 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (March 16), No. 14 by D2 Baseball News (March 17), No. 11 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) (March 17), and No. 15 by Perfect Game (March 18). The Tritons appeared at No. 15 in CBN's preseason edition, released back on Dec. 23. They moved up to a high of No. 10 in the publication's first in-season listing on Feb. 16. Other preseason prognostications were No. 12 by the NCBWA (Jan. 28), No. 16 by D2 Baseball News, and No. 19 by PG (Jan. 29). UCSD's highest ranking in 2015 has been No. 8 by the NCBWA on Feb. 17. Regionally speaking, the Tritons are rated No. 1 in the West by the NCBWA and No. 2 by D2 Baseball News.

LAST TIME OUT
UCSD never trailed in sweeping a four-game home series over archrival and then-20th-ranked reigning West Region champion Chico State, March 6-8. Justin Donatella (7.1 IP, 2 BB, 9 K) and Chad Rieser (1.2, 2 BB, 2 K) combined on the five-hit shutout, 6-0, in the Friday night opener as the Tritons' ace out-dueled Wildcat All-American Luke Barker. The Tritons then swept the Saturday doubleheader, 10-7 and 4-3 in seven innings, with Rieser notching the save in both contests. Trevor Scott (4-2) and Alon Leichman (4-0) took the winning decisions, with the latter starter battling through illness that prevented him from taking the mound in game one as originally planned. UCSD completed its first sweep over the 'Cats since 2011 and first ever in La Jolla on Sunday, 4-2, behind Troy Cruz (7.2, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K). Tyler Plantier's three-run double to straightaway center to cap a four-run sixth inning was all the offense the Tritons needed, with Dan Kolodin getting the final four outs to close it out.

AROUND THE CCAA
At 13-3 in league play, UCSD is currently tied for first in the 11-team CCAA standings, with Cal State Monterey Bay sporting identical overall (17-7) and conference marks. Cal State San Bernardino (3-13) is in 10th. Another full league slate is on tap this week, beginning Friday afternoon. Two other key sets include Cal Poly Pomona at Chico State, and Monterey Bay at Cal State L.A. Follow all of the action through the CCAA baseball scoreboard. Bookmark it here.

DONNY'S STREAK CONTINUES
Justin Donatella has thrown 31.0 straight shutout innings dating back to his second frame of the season during a 2-0 home loss to then-fifth-ranked 2014 national runner-up Colorado Mesa in his 2015 debut back on Feb. 6. He has yet to allow a single run in 28.1 frames over his four starts since, to begin CCAA play. Of the two runs Donatella has given up, both against CMU, just one was earned, for a league-best current ERA of 0.28. He also leads the league with his 42 strikeouts. Donatella is 22nd nationally in the NCAA Division II in ERA, with all 21 pitchers in front of him boasting 0.00 marks, though only seven of those 21 have thrown even 10 frames.

LEAGUE-LEADING PITCHING
UCSD has the best team ERA in the CCAA and seventh in Division II, at 2.34. The Tritons also have 192 strikeouts, the most in the league. They have allowed 77 runs in 24 games, with 53 of them earned. The starting rotation of Justin Donatella (4-1, 0.28), Trevor Scott (4-2, 1.62), Alon Leichman (4-0, 2.55) and Troy Cruz (3-2, 2.45) all boast an ERA of under 3.00, with Donatella yet to allow a run in 28.1 innings in CCAA play. Donatella paces the CCAA with 42 strikeouts, while Scott is first on the staff with 33.1 innings. The Tritons as a team have issued only 50 walks, second-fewest in the league.

TWO-HEADED MONSTER OUT OF BULLPEN
Fourth-year seniors Chad Rieser and Dan Kolodin have three saves apiece. Rieser (0-0, 1.89 ERA), a left-hander, has made a team-best 12 appearances and given up just four runs with 24 strikeouts over 19.0 frames. He struck out the side in order in both the sixth and seventh on Feb. 21 against Cal State Dominguez Hills. Kolodin (2-1, 2.89), a right-hander, is second with nine appearances, seven in relief, and is second in strikeouts (30) and fourth in innings (28.0). On Saturday, March 7, Rieser saved both ends of a doubleheader sweep at home over rival Chico State, becoming the first Triton to achieve the feat since Kolodin in another home sweep against SF State on April 6, 2013.

MANN ALIVE
Senior first baseman Michael Mann has been on a tear after a slow start to his final collegiate campaign. He held a .200 batting average following the 6-2 loss at Azusa Pacific on Feb. 24. Since then, Mann is hitting .516 (16-for-31), with four multi-hit efforts, to increase his average to .329. During this current stretch, the Orinda product produced a 5-for-5 showing in the series finale at Cal State East Bay on March 1. Over the course of the 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasons, there have been a pair of five-hit efforts by Tritons, and both have come from Mann. The Division II-era single-game program record is six hits. Mann also went 4-for-5 on Feb. 28 at East Bay.

SHUTOUTS ON SHUTOUTS
With a 6-0 victory to open its series with Chico State on March 6, UCSD now already has seven shutouts in 2015 through 24 games, having produced seven a year ago in 54. Seven is the program's most in the NCAA Division II era since 2001. The Tritons are tied for first nationally in Division II with Franklin Pierce and Virginia State. In completing back-to-back-to-back shutouts to begin its series with Cal State Dominguez Hills, Feb. 19-21, UCSD achieved the feat of three straight shutouts for the first time in program history, dating back through the 1980 season. The Tritons on five previous occasions had posted two successive shutouts, most recently at home to start off the 2014 series with the Toros, on March 6 (1-0) and March 7 (7-0).

CRUZ OVER TO FIRST BASE
Junior All-American Troy Cruz has drawn 23 walks in 24 games this season, second nationally in the NCAA Division II and first in the CCAA. He is now just barely still on pace to reach 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 .494, which ranks second in the league. UCSD players take up five of the top nine spots in the conference in walks, as Erik Lewis (20), Jack Larsen (15), Michael Mann (15) and Justin Flatt (14) follow Cruz. Lewis is 11th nationally, with UCSD fourth in the country as a team (130). A year ago, it was La Face, Lewis (42) and Justin Rahn (35) ahead of the CCAA pack.

THIRTEEN CCAA SETS WITHOUT A LOSS
With a sweep of Chico State following a trio of three-games-to-one victories over SF State, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State East Bay to begin the 2015 CCAA schedule, UCSD has gone 13 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. UCSD has still not lost its regular-season four-game set with Chico State since 2007, when it dropped three of four in Chico.

DONNY DONS AWARDS FOR DOMINANT STARTS
Justin Donatella's one-hit shutout at Cal State East Bay on Feb. 27, with a season-high 11 strikeouts on just 98 pitches, earned the junior right-hander both the NCBWA West Region and CCAA Pitcher of the Week nods, each for the first time in his career. Donatella retired the first 14 Pioneers he faced that afternoon, with the home side managing just a two-out single through the left side in the fifth inning, and a leadoff hit-by-pitch in the seventh. Donatella registered eight more outs on grounders, and the other eight on fly balls, also handling all four of his defensive chances cleanly with three assists on comebackers and one putout. Read more here. Donatella's next outing of 7.1 shutout frames with nine strikeouts against Chico State, garnered him a spot among 10 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Players of the Week from all levels of college baseball.

PROGRAM FIRST FOR DONATELLA
Justin Donatella's remarkable performance in Hayward on Feb. 27 marked the first one-hit, nine-inning shutout by an individual Triton pitcher in the Division II era, since 2001. Former standouts Tim Shibuya (7.0 IP) and Elias Tuma (2.0) previously combined on a one-hit, nine-inning shutout in another defeat of Cal State East Bay, 1-0, on Feb. 19, 2011. Five Triton arms teamed up on a nine-inning one-hitter on Feb. 5, 2002, in a 3-1 victory at crosstown rival Point Loma. The only no-hitter for UCSD's Division II days came from Trevor Decker against then-top-ranked Cal State Stanislaus, a 6-0 home triumph in seven innings back on March 14, 2009.

YOUNG OUTFIELD
All 72 combined starts in the UCSD outfield in 2015 have come from redshirt freshman Justin Flatt, redshirt sophomore Brandon Shirley, and true sophomores Jack Larsen and Christian Leung. Flatt, Shirley and Larsen started left to right in each of the first 17 games this season. Leung's strong play has earned him four starts in right field since, with Larsen moving back over to center, where he made all 44 of his starts as a freshman in 2014. The outfielders have combined for seven of the Tritons' 10 home runs, with Flatt and Larsen blasting three apiece. Flatt served as the leadoff hitter for the first six contests, with Shirley taking over at the top of the order for the next 11. Flatt has generated the two longest hit streaks by a Triton in 2015, beginning the year with eight, with a current stretch at nine. He reached base safely in each of the first 12 games. Larsen, who has batted either third or fourth in the lineup, leads the team in average (.369), RBI (28) and multi-hit efforts (8).

VETERAN INFIELD
Over the first 24 games, the Tritons have generally started the 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 at third for the five games when Cruz has been on the mound, and a pair of starts at first for Pierce College transfer Zach Friedman. Brett Levy has been behind the plate for 14 of the 24 games, with fellow fourth-year senior Brian Choi drawing a pair of starts.

STATISTICAL ODDS AND ENDS
Erik Lewis had his lengthy reached-base streak going back to last season snapped at 40 games on Feb. 28 ... Redshirt freshman catcher Steven Coe has thrown out five out of eight (.625) would-be base-stealers this season ... Freshman Tyler Plantier has 15 RBI, tied for second on the team, over just 19 at-bats ... UCSD is an undefeated 15-0 when scoring first, and 5-0 when scoring in the first inning ... The Tritons are 14-1 when out-hitting their opponent, and 1-0 when hit totals are equal ... UCSD is 15-2 when tallying at least three runs in a contest.

POWER UP
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. The Tritons have done it twice in 2015, launching three more long balls to open the doubleheader at Cal State East Bay on March 1. Brian Choi's grand slam in that Western Oregon contest was the first by a Triton since Justin Rahn's against CPP in the third inning of a 20-5 triumph during the NCAA West Regional in La Jolla on May 16, 2014. Having finished 2014 with 11 home runs, UCSD is at 10 through 24 games this season.

HIT-BY-PITCH RECORD
Cal State Dominguez Hills pitchers hit UCSD batters a total of nine times during a 19-0 drubbing in game one of the Feb. 21 doubleheader in La Jolla. That constituted a Triton program record at least for the Division II era (since 2001), and likely all-time. UCSD was plunked seven times in a single game four times prior, in 2007, 2005, 2004 and 2003.

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. The local product out of Chula Vista (Bonita Vista HS) was a two-time SDHOC Star of the Month during the 2014 calendar year. He helped guide UCSD to a record sixth CCAA tournament title and into the NCAA postseason, excelling as both an infielder and pitcher. Cruz was recognized at the 69th Annual Salute to the Champions on Feb. 23 at the Town and Country Convention Center. Both he and Triton head coach Eric Newman were in attendance, with Cruz addressing the crowd. Read a Triton Q&A with Cruz here.

TRITON NOTES
UCSD is 4-3 against nationally-ranked opponents in 2015, with four straight victories coming in the sweep of then-20th-ranked Chico State, after three successive losses against Colorado Mesa (5) and Azusa Pacific (22) ... Justin Donatella's incredible February (3-1, 0.36 ERA, 33 strikeouts) with a shutout streak of 23.2 innings, earned him a first career San Diego Hall of Champions Star of the Month selection ... Trevor Scott and Jack Larsen were named on Feb. 3 as the 2015 season's first CCAA Baseball Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively ... 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, seven returning redshirts and 12 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 faced CCAA favorite Chico State at home for the second year in a row, sweeping that four-game series between archrivals, March 6-8. UCSD wrapped up a season-opening, season-long 11-game homestand on Feb. 17. 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 the venue 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 114-71 record (85-47 CCAA) in charge of the Tritons and 209-143 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 went 95-72 in three seasons at the helm of Dallas Baptist University from 2005-07.

ABOUT THE COYOTES
Cal State San Bernardino (5-20, 3-13 CCAA) dropped three of four on the road at Chico State last weekend, managing just seven runs for the series. CSUSB dropped the first two meetings, 8-0 and 4-1, before taking Saturday's seven-inning doubleheader nightcap, 4-1, behind a four-run sixth. The Coyotes fell in Sunday's finale, 4-2. They are 2-11 at home and 3-9 on the road. Damion Edmonds (28-for-91) and Warren Fishback (24-for-78) are the only two CSUSB players hitting above .300, each at .308. Don Parnell is in his 24th season at the helm.

SERIES HISTORY
UCSD holds a commanding 50-24 advantage over Cal State San Bernardino in the all-time series, and is 41-18 against the Coyotes since 2001, when the Tritons moved up to the NCAA Division II and joined the CCAA. This includes an 21-7 edge over the last 28 meetings since 2007. UCSD won the series, 3-1, in each of the last two seasons. Last season, UCSD took the first three games by scores of 9-2 and 9-6 on the road, and then 6-4 at home. Needing to complete the sweep with the seven-inning doubleheader nightcap in La Jolla, in order to earn what proved to be a share of the CCAA regular-season title, the Tritons dropped a 4-3 decision as the Coyotes rallied from a 3-0 deficit late. In 2013, the teams split two games in La Jolla before the Tritons pounded out 27 runs on 24 hits in a doubleheader sweep in San Bernardino, 11-4 and 16-5 in seven innings. The sides split the four-game set in 2012, each winning twice on its home diamond.

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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Coach Burleson Twitter (@CoachB_UCSD)

UP NEXT
UCSD will complete its Spring Break by hitting the road for a four-game series in Rohnert Park against league rival Sonoma State, the 2014 CCAA regular-season champion. The opener at Seawolf Diamond on Friday, March 27, is set for 2 p.m.

#TritonsRising