STOCKTON, Calif. - Cal Poly Pomona rallied for two runs in the eighth to squeak past UC San Diego, 2-1, in another classic between the rivals in the winner's bracket of the 2015 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Baseball Championship Friday night at Klein Family Field on the campus of the University of the Pacific.
Second-seeded and 26th-ranked UCSD, the designated home side by virtue of a coin toss after Thursday's action, dropped to 33-18 overall, and will take on No. 4 seed Cal State Dominguez Hills (29-23) in an elimination game at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Cal Poly Pomona, the top-seeded and 18th-ranked regular-season champion, improved to 38-14. The Broncos had won the regular-season series with the Tritons, three games to one. They move on to the championship game Saturday at 7 p.m.
UCSD struck first with a single run in the second, grabbing a sixth straight unearned score to begin the tournament after all five during Thursday's 5-2 defeat of Cal State Monterey Bay came in that fashion. Jack Larsen singled sharply with one away, and Troy Cruz was plunked by a 1-2 offering from CPP starter Cody Ponce. The duo pulled off a double steal as Brett Levy struck out, and catcher Christian Kelley's throw got just enough away from his third baseman, to allow Larsen to sprint home.
The contest looked to be tied in the fourth, but CPP ran itself into a third out at the plate. After Dan Kolodin walked the leadoff man for a second straight frame, he registered back-to-back strikeouts, but Mike Philp narrowly beat out an infield nubber for his team's first hit of the night. Nicholas Bruno then singled through the right side, and Larsen's strong throw was cut off by first baseman Michael Mann, who relayed to his catcher Levy to easily tag Philp as UCSD stayed up, 1-0.
The Tritons wasted a golden opportunity to add to their lead in the bottom half. Larsen got a bunt down for a single and Cruz was hit for the second time on the very next pitch. Levy provided the perfect sacrifice, but Tyler Howsley's squeeze attempt didn't go as smoothly, with the runners remaining at second and third as the second out was made at first. Ponce then got the strikeout to end the inning.
A third straight leadoff walk still didn't hurt the Tritons in the fifth. Kolodin issued a free pass to No. 9 hitter Jacob Bernardy ahead of a sacrifice. He turned back Kyle Garlick on a high fastball before throwing four outside the zone to Nick Cooksey, as UCSD went to its bullpen. Javier Carrillo, Jr., took the mound, and on his fourth toss, got cleanup hitter Michael Zidek to pop out harmlessly to Gradeigh Sanchez in left.
Sanchez, who picked up All-CCAA First Team distinction Thursday as a designated hitter, promptly took two strikes and laced an opposite-field single through the left side to lead off the home fifth off of new pitcher Richie McWilliams. The junior moved to second on an Erik Lewis bunt and to third on a wild pitch, but was cut down at home on a ground ball to first. Back-to-back five-pitch walks to Mann and Larsen filled the bases. Cruz, however, grounded out to the right side.
Larsen sprinted into the gap in right center and sprawled out to rob leadoff man Kelley to open the seventh, but back-to-back walks, including one of the 10-pitch variety to Garlick after three long foul balls down the left field line, led to a pitching change. On came senior left-hander Chad Rieser, who worked a 1-2 count before Zidek got minimal bat on a ball that went up the third base line, and literally sat, on the line, with everybody safe to load the bases. On the very next pitch, Mike Muñoz squared to bunt and popped the ball up. Rieser glided off the mound and made the back-hand snatch as it neared the ground, and with runners moving on the squeeze attempt, it was an easy 1-5 double play.
After a 1-2-3 home seventh from Ryan Alsworth (4-2), CPP opened the eighth with Ryan Webberley reaching via wild pitch after he swung through a third strike, and a single through the left side by Philp. Redshirt freshman right-hander John Erhardt (0-1) collected Bruno's bunt and fired a laser at Cruz to narrowly get the lead runner, but a passed ball moved two Broncos into scoring position with one gone. An RBI groundout to shortstop by Bernardy knotted the score at 1-1, before a wild pitch plated Bruno with the go-ahead run.
Cruz doubled to left on Alsworth's first offering of the eighth. Successive infield groundouts, however, preceded a pitching change. Bronco closer Austin Boyle walked pinch-hitter Christian Leung on five tosses, but got Sanchez to fly out.
The Broncos got a leadoff double of their own in the ninth, from Garlick into the gap in right center, and were also unable to move him. After a right-sided groundout, walk and hit-by-pitch to fill the bags, Lewis moved to third base as Cruz moved to the hill. Lewis made a great play to charge a slow chopper, make the pick on the short hop, and fire to Levy to get the second out, before Cruz struck out Philp.
Kolodin drew his fourth start and turned in 4.2 shutout innings on two hits. The senior right-hander walked five and struck out a season-high-matching eight, including a pair to end a perfect second, and two more to dodge a threat in the third. In the latter, he fanned the league's top power hitter in Garlick, and Cooksey was unable to catch up to a high fastball for strike three with Broncos at first and second.
Larsen was 2-for-3 with a walk, run scored and stolen base. Sanchez wound up 2-for-5. Cruz reached base three times on the double and two hit-by-pitches.
Ponce, a big junior right-hander and top prospect for June's Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, went 4.0 frames and gave up an unearned run on three hits, one walk and two hit batsmen. He struck out five, with one 1-2-3 effort in the first.
The teams combined for 26 runners left on base, each producing five hits. The Tritons used seven pitchers in all, who together walked a season-high nine.
The Tritons will be the visiting side against the Toros in Saturday's elimination game, through a rotation system. They would take on the Broncos again at 7 p.m. in the title round, should they get by CSUDH. UCSD would again be the visitor in that potential match-up. The Tritons need a two-game sweep on Saturday in order to earn another crack at CPP on Sunday at noon, and defend their 2014 tourney crown.
Triton Notes: In its 11th appearance at the CCAA Championship, UCSD is now 24-13 at the event, including 10-3 in Stockton, 7-3 at Klein Field, and 7-2 under Eric Newman ... The Tritons are 4-3 against the Broncos at the CCAA tournament ... The Tritons had won five straight CCAA tourney contests, including a three-game sweep through the 2014 edition to win their record sixth banner ... These teams also matched up in the winner's bracket on the second night a year ago, with the Tritons taking another thriller, 5-4, on a walk-off double by current assistant coach Nick La Face in the bottom of the 11th ... Gradeigh Sanchez started his 27th straight game in the leadoff position ... Jack Larsen batted fifth for the second straight night, after hitting exclusively in the third or fourth spot this season ... Larsen's second-inning steal gave him 11 on the year on 11 attempts, tying him with Brandon Shirley for the team lead, and made him a perfect 13-for-13 for his career ... Eleven total strikeouts tonight by its pitching staff extended UCSD's program-record total to 421, which now again leads the CCAA, as CPP had seven Friday to give it 419 ... Dan Kolodin's eight strikeouts fell one short of his career high, increasing his career-best season total to 69 ... With five more walks, UCSD increased its nation-leading season total to 272, now just six away from the Division II-era program standard of 278 from a year ago ... Erik Lewis' walk in the third was his league-best 38th ... UCSD is 6-7 against nationally-ranked opponents in 2015.
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