ROHNERT PARK, Calif. - Behind another strong start from Justin Donatella, key hits by Justin Flatt and Zach Friedman, and a big defensive play from shortstop Tyler Howsley, the 16th-ranked UC San Diego baseball team got past Sonoma State University, 4-3, to open a four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) series at Seawolf Diamond on Friday afternoon.
With its 20th victory of 2015, first-place UCSD moved to 20-8 overall and 16-4 in the CCAA. Sonoma State, the conference's reigning regular-season champion, fell to 16-14 overall and 10-11 in league play.
UCSD got out of the first unscathed thanks in part to a diving stop by senior second baseman Erik Lewis, who then threw to Friedman to get CCAA Player of the Week Alex Crosby for the second out after a one-out hit-by-pitch. Donatella, the Tritons' junior right-handed ace, put two runners on in the second via leadoff single and another hit batter with two away, but struck out Cameron Merriwether swinging.
Donatella registered his first 1-2-3 frame in the home third, while his counterpart, senior right-hander Bobby Raymos, was coolly perfect through four. Donatella worked his way around a one-out Cody Morris double to left center in the fourth with a groundout and three-pitch strikeout.
Friedman finally became UCSD's first base-runner as he was plunked by a 2-2 Raymos offering to begin the fifth. A first-pitch Flatt single to center with two gone broke up the no-hit bid, but a flyout kept it scoreless.
Donatella battled back from a 3-0 count to get Jourdan Weiks to foul out to open the home sixth, but Crosby jumped on his next pitch and legged out a double. Donatella fanned Devin Alexander for his 10th strikeout of the afternoon, and issued an intentional pass to Morris. Eric Ehlow worked a six-pitch walk of the unintentional variety to load the bases full of Seawolves, before Donatella caught Philip Ramos looking at his final pitch of the day on the inside corner to leave them that way.
Clearly down to its last chance to reward Donatella's effort, UCSD delivered.
Singles by Lewis and Christian Leung around two outs in the seventh put a Triton in scoring position. Just like he did in the fifth, and just like Leung ahead of him, Flatt swung at Raymos' initial offering and lined it to right to send Lewis flying around third with the game's first run. A strikeout kept the Seawolf deficit at one.
With Donatella at a season-high 117 pitches, Dan Kolodin replaced him to begin the home seventh, and though the senior right-hander fell behind all three batters, he got each of them to ground out to Troy Cruz (Chula Vista/Bonita Vista HS) at third.
UCSD tacked on what would prove to be necessary insurance in the eighth off of Sonoma State reliever Ricky Clark. Gradeigh Sanchez hit a one-out infield single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Brandon Shirley then struck out, but reached first safely as Sanchez moved to third on a second wild pitch. After Shirley stole second, Clark got Lewis to chase one. Friedman, however, in the starting lineup at first base with the hot-hitting Michael Mann unavailable, drove a 3-1 pitch out over the wall in right for his first home run as a Triton to suddenly make it a 4-0 bulge.
Chad Rieser took over for Kolodin and got Weiks swinging before painting the corner on a staring Crosby. Successive opposite-field singles on two-strike counts into either gap by Alexander and Morris put runners at the corners, but Rieser got Ehlow to swing through as he fanned the side.
The end of the contest was still not without considerable drama as Sonoma State loaded the bases, and promptly unloaded them on a three-run double into the left field corner by Crosby. With the tying run at second, Howsley made an incredible bare-handed play on Alexander's grounder and fired in one fluid motion to Friedman to close it out. Rieser finished with four strikeouts in a non-save situation.
Donatella (6-1) went 6.0 shutout innings allowing three hits, two walks, one of them intentional, and two hit-by-pitches. He matched his season high of 11 strikeouts, with two in each of the first four frames, as well as the sixth. The Saugus product set the Seawolves down in order in the fifth as well, in addition to the third, on a foulout, strikeout and groundout, but required 22 pitches to do so. Donatella's league-leading totals now stand at a 0.61 ERA and 61 strikeouts.
Flatt was 2-for-4 with an RBI, with Friedman going 1-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch and the three-run shot.
"I thought the guys really competed in a tough environment, and without Jack (Larsen) and Mike (Mann) in the lineup," said UCSD head coach Eric Newman. "If we are going to become the team we want to become, it's going to take everybody, and the guys really bought into that today. Zach Friedman came up with a big hit, Justin Donatella was great, and Tyler Howsley made a game-changing play in the ninth when (Sonoma State) had momentum and a chance to tie it up. That's the kind of team win that we have been looking for, and I'm proud of the effort we gave today."
Raymos (4-2) gave up one run on four hits over 7.0 frames, walking none and striking out eight. In retiring the first 12 Tritons in order, he had a pair of punchouts in the first and needed just six pitches in the third and eight more in the fourth. Raymos struck out the side, the last one looking, on another 11 tosses in the sixth.
Morris was 3-for-3 with a walk and a double. Crosby went 2-for-5 with two doubles and three RBI.
UCSD and Sonoma State continue this series with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. at Seawolf Diamond on Saturday, March 28.
Triton Notes: These teams were meeting for the first time since a 2013 set in Rohnert Park, when the Seawolves won the series, 3-1, with last year's four games in La Jolla all wiped out by rain ... Gradeigh Sanchez drew his fourth straight start, all in the leadoff position ... Sophomore outfielder Jack Larsen was out of the lineup for the first time in 2015 after starting the first 27 games ... Zach Friedman made his first start since Feb. 20, and his first start at first base since Feb. 17 ... With Larsen and Michael Mann both unavailable, UCSD was missing two of its top three hitters in terms of batting average ... Justin Donatella has reached double digits in strikeouts twice this season and three times for his college career, his high still standing at 13 from a year ago ... Donatella has won all six of his CCAA starts, with the lone loss coming against Colorado Mesa, currently the top-ranked team in Division II ... Brandon Shirley's eighth-inning stolen base was his team-best seventh ... Chad Rieser has 32 strikeouts in 23.0 innings pitched in 2015 ... UCSD has reached the 20-win mark for the 14th consecutive season, since 2001 ... The Tritons, who lead the league in walks, failed to draw a single base on balls for the first time all season.
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