STOCKTON, Calif. - Justin Donatella was named the 2015 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Most Valuable Pitcher on Thursday morning.
At night, he took the mound at Klein Family Field on the campus of the University of the Pacific in the opening round of the CCAA Championship, and showed why.
The junior right-hander put the 26th-ranked UC San Diego baseball team on his back with another extraordinary effort, and led the Tritons to a 5-2 win over Cal State Monterey Bay.
Donatella (9-2) tossed 8.0 shutout innings on two hits, both singles, two walks, and two hit-by-pitches. He struck out nine to increase his league-leading season total to 103. When his night was done after 124 pitches, he had managed to lower his league-best ERA from 0.86 down to 0.78, with a most-current shutout stretch of 15.2 frames. In battling back from a 3-0 deficit to fan Ty Morris to begin the seventh, Donatella registered his 100th strikeout for 2015, becoming just the third Triton all-time and first since Tim Shibuya in 2011 (109), to reach 100 punchouts for a season. Remarkably, he has still yet to allow a run in consecutive outings, over 12 starts.
While UCSD improved to 33-17 overall with the triumph, Donatella's effort also all but assured him at least one more start this year, as the Tritons took another big step toward a second straight NCAA West Regional berth. Cal State Monterey Bay, which came into the contest a winner of five in a row and eight of nine, fell to 32-19. The teams had split their four-game regular-season series in La Jolla in April. Thursday marked their first meeting at a CCAA tournament.
The Tritons move on to face top-seeded and 18th-ranked CCAA regular-season champion Cal Poly Pomona (37-14) on Friday night at 7 p.m. in the winner's bracket. The Broncos got past fourth-seeded Cal State Dominguez Hills, 6-1, in the first game. By virtue of a coin toss, UCSD will be the home team against CPP.
As the higher-seeded home side Thursday, UCSD broke a scoreless deadlock with five runs, all unearned, in the eighth to trigger what proved to be a frantic finish. Justin Flatt incredibly reached on the sixth error of the night by Morris, the Otters' All-CCAA First Team shortstop, marking a single-game Division II record, as the senior dropped a routine pop-up. Tim White ran for his fellow redshirt freshman, took second on a passed ball, and moved to third on Michael Mann's bunt. With two gone, Troy Cruz took first on a bunt that went down as a fielder's choice, as White was barely able to scramble back safely to third, and swiped second.
Brett Levy then came to the plate and was looking at runners at second and third for the third time in the contest. Having grounded out and struck out in the previous two instances to end the fourth and sixth frames, respectively, the senior catcher came up clutch the third time around by lining a two-run single into the gap in left center to give the Tritons a 2-0 lead. It was the 100th hit of his four-year career.
The hits didn't stop there. Tyler Howsley singled through the left side to plate Levy, and Brandon Shirley doubled into the left field corner for 4-0. Gradeigh Sanchez beat out an infield single as Shirley flew around third and came home.
Just when it looked like UCSD had done enough, CSUMB put together a two-run rally in the ninth and actually had the tying run at first as the bases were loaded with only one gone. Cruz, however, making his first relief appearance of 2015, slammed the door by getting Matt Urakami swinging and Will Rosado to hit into a game-ending fielder's choice.
Both teams produced base-runners through the early going, with Otter starter Kory Groves in fact walking the leadoff batter in each of the first two frames, but UCSD was unable to capitalize. Groves turned in the night's first perfect frame in the third, and Donatella answered right back in the fourth, getting help from his centerfielder, Shirley. The redshirt sophomore got a jump on Morris' deep fly ball to straightaway center and made a very difficult, over-the-shoulder basket catch for the second out.
UCSD put two runners on base with one gone in the fourth, but successive groundouts kept them scoreless, indeed still hitless. Donatella had earlier in the second faced a situation with two Otters on base via back-to-back two-out singles, but got a ground ball of his own to put an end to that threat.
CSUMB had its leadoff man on for the first time in the contest to begin the fifth, but after a successful sacrifice, a sharply-hit ground ball and a miscue knocked that Otter off the bases before a flyout.
The Tritons returned the favor in the home half. Sanchez generated their first hit with two away. Erik Lewis followed by looping an opposite-field double into the left field corner, but Sanchez took the turn too hard around third and was thrown out.
UCSD had two men on in the sixth, benefitting from another Morris error, but Groves got two swinging strikeouts to keep it knotted at 0-0.
After Donatella struck out the side in the seventh, the Tritons again ran themselves out of a potential first run. Howsley appeared to have reached on an awry throw by Morris, but he, too, over-ran the bag, with the CSUMB catcher wisely backing up the play to aid in the first out. Morris then let a hard grounder by Shirley go right through his legs. He stole second, but a strikeout and groundout left him there.
Donatella retired Monterey Bay 1-2-3 again in the eighth on a first-pitch popout, flyout and strikeout, the big 6-foot-6 product of Saugus pumping his fist after Brian Hamm swung through a high fastball. That made nine in a row down to end his night. The Tritons found their offense and picked up their ace in the next half.
Sanchez finished 2-for-4 with a walk, RBI and stolen base. Levy was 1-for-4 with a run, two RBI and a steal.
Groves (4-2), the All-CCAA First Team selection at relief pitcher who was making his first start of the year, was the tough-luck loser, giving up three unearned runs on three hits and two walks over 7.2 frames. The senior right-hander struck out five. When the Otters opened the regular-season set against Donatella on April 10 in La Jolla, they also had a first-time starter on the mound that night in Christian Stubbs. Prior to Levy's single, Groves posted 22.2 consecutive shutout innings dating back to Jack Larsen's two-run home run during a narrow 7-6 Otter win at UCSD on April 12.
Triton Notes: In its 11th appearance at the CCAA Championship, UCSD is now 24-12 at the event, including 10-2 in Stockton, 7-2 at Klein Field, and 7-1 under Eric Newman ... The Tritons have won five straight CCAA tournament games, including a three-game sweep through the 2014 edition to win their record sixth banner ... UCSD leads the all-time series with CSUMB, 30-14 ... Gradeigh Sanchez started his 26th straight game in the leadoff position ... Jack Larsen batted fifth after hitting exclusively in the third or fourth spot this season ... Justin Donatella's first strikeout of the night in the first inning gave UCSD 400 on the year ... Donatella has now tossed a career-high 81.0 frames in his junior campaign ... Donatella lowered his pitch count in each of the first five innings tonight, from 22 down to 12 ... Prior to walking Justin Flores with two away in the first, Donatella had gone 16.2 innings without issuing a base on balls ... For his career, Donatella is now 3-0 in three starts with 20.0 shutout innings and 28 strikeouts against CSUMB (9 H, 6 BB, 4 HBP) ... Donatella has boasted shutout stretches in 2015 of 34.1, 15.2 and again currently 15.2 innings ... UCSD is 10-2 in his starts ... Brandon Shirley's seventh-inning steal was his team-best 11th on 13 attempts ... Eleven total strikeouts tonight by its pitching staff extended UCSD's program-record total to 410 ... With two more walks, UCSD increased its nation-leading season total to 267, now just 11 away from the Division II-era program standard of 278 from a year ago ... The single-season program record for strikeouts belongs to Rick Nowak, who fanned 124 in 1988 ... UCSD tied its season high with four stolen bases ... CSUMB's All-CCAA First Team first baseman Kevin Davidson, the league RBI leader with 51, is 2-for-16 (.125) with two RBI against UCSD on the year.
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