SAN RAMON, Calif. - The UC San Diego baseball program is favored to place as runner-up in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) South in 2016, as voted by the league's 12 head coaches in its preseason poll released on Thursday.

UCSD was second both overall (105 points) and divisionally (51) behind reigning CCAA regular-season, CCAA tournament and West Region champion Cal Poly Pomona (121/61). The Broncos were unanimously picked to repeat, garnering 11 of the 12 first-place votes, with coaches unable to include their own clubs. Chico State, the 2014 West Region champion, had been selected as the CCAA favorite prior to each of the last four seasons. The Wildcats (90/52) top the North in this year's poll, while Cal State Monterey Bay (88) took the remaining first-place tally and shares the second spot in that division with Sonoma State (83) at 47 points apiece.

UCSD finished in a tie for second with CSUMB in 2015 with a league record of 27-13, qualifying for a second consecutive CCAA Championship before advancing to the final round of the NCAA West Regional for the second year in succession as well. The fifth-seeded Tritons had a 36-21 overall record following a 7-4 loss to top seed CPP in a riveting West Region final in Walnut.

Approaching his fifth season at the helm, Eric Newman can count on 17 returning letterwinners alongside five returning redshirts and 18 newcomers. He has six of nine regular position players and two of four starting pitchers at his disposal.

Troy Cruz (Chula Vista/Bonita Vista HS), a 2014 All-American and three-time All-CCAA selection, resumes his utility role for one more season. Senior Gradeigh Sanchez, juniors Jack Larsen, Brandon Shirley and Christian Leung, and redshirt sophomore Justin Flatt should divvy up a bulk of the outfield starts. Junior Tyler Howsley started all 57 games at shortstop a season ago. He, Larsen and Sanchez all played together at Mission Viejo's Capistrano Valley High School. Redshirt sophomore Steven Coe (Valley Center/Valley Center HS) is the only one of four catchers on the 2016 roster with collegiate playing experience.

On the mound, senior right-hander Alon Leichman and Cruz made up half of UCSD's 2015 rotation, with the likes of redshirt sophomore John Erhardt and sophomore Jack Rupe, Jr. (San Marcos/Mission Hills HS) still among a stable of young arms.

The Tritons will need to replace some considerable talent, starting with ace Justin Donatella, who put together one of the best campaigns in program history as a junior to collect a bevy of postseason awards, such as NCBWA National Pitcher of the Year and CCAA Most Valuable Pitcher, as well as being the unanimous West Region Pitcher of the Year. He was the 15th-round selection of the Arizona Diamondbacks during the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, and signed. Also gone are regulars Erik Lewis and Michael Mann. Lewis started all 57 games in 2015, with 56 at second base and one at third. Mann was the primary first baseman. Other seniors were four-year pitchers Dan Kolodin, Chad Rieser and Trevor Scott, as well as catchers Brian Choi and Brett Levy, and reliever Javier Carrillo, Jr.

UCSD was ranked No. 26 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (CBN) preseason poll, released on Dec. 22. On Wednesday, the Tritons appeared at No. 16 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) listing, but were not rated Thursday in Perfect Game's top 25. The D2 Baseball News poll is expected soon.

The Tritons are No. 2 in the West Region rankings of both D2 Baseball News and the NCBWA, behind only CPP. Larsen was chosen to the NCBWA's 14-player preseason All-West Region First Team, with Cruz and Sanchez making it onto the second team.

There are several significant changes to the CCAA baseball landscape in 2016. Cal State San Marcos has joined the conference as a 13th member. The addition of the crosstown foe Cougars means 12 league teams in baseball, as Humboldt State does not sponsor the sport. With an even geographical balance of six programs in the north and six in the south, the CCAA has gone to a divisional alignment. As such, the 38-game league slate, down from 40 in 2015, consists of a four-game series within the division, and three-gamers across divisions. That is a departure from all four-game matchups in recent seasons.

There is also a change to the CCAA Baseball Championship. The conference champion and automatic qualifier into the NCAA Championship will still come from that tournament, and it remains a double-elimination event. It has expanded, however, from four teams to six, with the top three sides in both the North and South divisions gaining the right to participate.

UCSD will entertain The Master's College on Opening Day on Saturday, Feb. 6, for a doubleheader. First pitch at Triton Ballpark is set for 2 p.m. The twin bill, with both ends scheduled for the regulation nine innings, marks the start of a season-long 13-game homestand for UCSD to begin the campaign. TMC is No. 10 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) preseason poll.

The Tritons will commence CCAA play on Friday, Feb. 26, hosting Cal State San Bernardino in the primetime opener (6 p.m.) of a four-game, split-venue series. The CCAA Championship will be held in the neutral-site city of Stockton for the fourth year in a row, but after the 2015 edition took place at Klein Family Field on the campus of the University of the Pacific, the now-six-team tournament is headed back to Banner Island Ballpark of the minor-league Stockton Ports, May 11-14. The Tritons earned their record sixth CCAA tourney title there in 2014.

2016 CCAA Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll
Institution (First-Place Votes), Points
North
1. Chico State, 52
T-2. Cal State Monterey Bay (1), 47
T-2. Sonoma State, 47
4. Stanislaus State, 27
5. Cal State East Bay, 26
6. SF State, 17

South
1. #10 Cal Poly Pomona (11), 61
2. #26 UC San Diego, 51
3. Cal State LA, 35
4. Cal State Dominguez Hills, 30
5. Cal State San Marcos, 23
6. Cal State San Bernardino, 16

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