LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 24th-ranked UC San Diego baseball team produced a season-high 23 hits and scored in every inning but the second to hammer visiting Cal State San Bernardino, 18-1, in the finale of a four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) series Tuesday night at Triton Ballpark.
The result secured a seventh CCAA series victory for the Tritons, as they had taken two out of three when the teams met a month ago. UCSD won in La Jolla, 11-5, on March 21, before a doubleheader split in San Bernardino the following afternoon.
Tuesday's victory also meant that UCSD is the first team to clinch one of four berths in the 2015 CCAA Championship, to be held in Stockton, May 7-10. The Tritons will head north to defend their 2014 conference tournament title. They are record six-time tourney champions.
UCSD's 30th win of 2015 improved its overall record to 30-15, with a 25-11 mark in the CCAA. The Tritons remain in second place behind Cal Poly Pomona (23-9) by a little over half a game. Last-place Cal State San Bernardino dropped to 9-32 overall and 7-25 in league play.
The Tritons fell just short in their bid for a 13th shutout this season. Their program-record 12 constitutes the high in all of the NCAA Division II, but the Coyotes were able to scratch across a run in the ninth via one-out double and ensuing RBI single.
UCSD tallied a single run in the first and added three in the third and four each in the fourth and fifth to lock up the win at 12-0. Every Triton in the starting lineup had at least one hit, with nine players for the home side winding up with multiple hits.
At the top of the order, Gradeigh Sanchez went 2-for-4 with two walks and an RBI, and matched his career high of four runs scored. Troy Cruz (Chula Vista/Bonita Vista HS) provided a double in between a pair of singles over his three trips to the plate, scoring twice before taking the rest of the evening off. Tim White had three at-bats, two runs, three hits and two RBI, all highs for the redshirt freshman after pinch-hitting for Cruz and taking over at second base. Michael Mann produced a two-run double in the fourth and another RBI double in the fifth, finishing 2-for-3 with a walk, three runs and three RBI.
Tyler Plantier (Poway/Del Norte HS), Andrew Hobson, Erik Lewis, Christian Leung and Brett Levy added two hits apiece, with Hobson doing so in a reserve role. Plantier, Lewis and Leung each drove in a pair, with Tyler Howsley making solid contact all night out of the No. 9 spot to the tune of a 1-for-3 effort. Leading off the fourth, the sophomore shortstop belted a 1-2 pitch into the gap in left center for his first collegiate triple, and trotted home on a single up the middle by Sanchez. Howsley had an 11-pitch walk to ignite the four-run fifth, a sacrifice fly, two runs and one RBI on the night.
On the mound, fourth-year senior right-hander Dan Kolodin (3-1) went the first four on a pre-determined pitching schedule for the Tritons, earning the win in his first starting assignment since Feb. 24 at Azusa Pacific. He fanned the side around a two-out double in the first, and collected four in all, with three hits and one walk against. Kolodin retired the Coyotes in order in the third as well on two groundouts and a called third strike. He let up a one-out single and walk in the fourth before back-to-back fielder's choice groundouts. On the first one, Lewis made a diving play behind the second-base bag, and glove-flipped to Howsley for the out.
Kolodin gave way to four freshmen. Jack Rupe, Jr. (San Marcos/Mission Hills HS) struck out a pair in a perfect fifth, and got a third punch-out to end the sixth with a Coyote runner at third. Travis Roberts tossed a 1-2-3 seventh with a strikeout, groundout and flyout. Anthony Sommer likewise followed suit with a strikeout in the eighth, and John Erhardt handled the ninth. The redshirt freshman set down CSUSB's top hitter, Warren Fishback, swinging with three successive strikes, ahead of the Trevor Williams double that led to the lone run moments later.
Centerfielder Brandon Shirley made a diving catch to his right for the second out in the eighth, before sprinting the opposite direction for another trough grab in the gap in right center to end that frame.
UCSD is idle from competition this weekend. The Tritons await a four-game, split-venue CCAA series with fourth-place Cal State L.A. to conclude the regular season, April 30-May 2.
Triton Notes: Gradeigh Sanchez started his 21st straight game in the leadoff position ... Sanchez reached base to open the bottom of the first for the ninth straight home game since taking over the leadoff spot, with eight walks and a single ... Sanchez has walked in the first in seven straight home contests ... Dan Kolodin's strikeout of the first batter he faced marked his 50th on the year ... UCSD has reached double figures in runs 13 times in 2015 ... The 23 hits were the most by the Tritons since they had 26 in a 20-2 win at SF State on March 17, 2012 ... UCSD has reached the 30-win mark for the third time in head coach Eric Newman's four years in charge, and has also qualified for a third CCAA Championship under Newman, having earned tourney banners in each of its previous two trips.
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