Baseball 2/27/2016 4:00:00 PM UCSD

No. 11 UCSD Batters CSUSB in Game One of Doubleheader, 20-4, Takes Nightcap 5-3 to Sweep Saturday and Clinch Series

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Eleventh-ranked UC San Diego produced season highs of 21 hits and 20 runs in a 20-4 demolition of Cal State San Bernardino in the opener of a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) doubleheader at Fiscalini Field on Saturday. The Tritons then took a 5-3 decision in the seven-inning nightcap.

Playing its very first road contests after a successful 13-game season-opening homestand, UCSD felt little discomfort, improving to 13-2 overall and 3-0 in the CCAA. The Tritons have now won a season-best six straight, and are off to the best 15-game start in the program's NCAA Division II history, since 2001. CSUSB, conversely playing at home for the first time in 2016, fell to 7-11 overall and 2-4 in league play. The Tritons had taken the opener of the four-game series Friday night in La Jolla, 9-4, rallying from a 4-1 deficit with three runs in the seventh and five in the eighth. With Saturday's sweep, they have clinched the conference series against the Coyotes for the fourth year in a row.

UCSD will go for the sweep back at Triton Ballpark in La Jolla on Sunday, Feb. 28. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. Watch live in HD at UCSDtritons.tv.

Game One
UCSD struck early in the first game. Gradeigh Sanchez and Jack Larsen worked one-out walks off of junior Coyote left-hander Don Sullivan, and sophomore designated hitter Tyler Plantier (Poway/Del Norte HS) launched his second home run of the year out to left field.

The home side got one of those runs right back in its first turn at the plate, but it could have been a lot worse. With the bases loaded and no outs through a leadoff bunt single and consecutive walks, Brent Bell dialed up a 5-4-3 double play, gladly surrendering the run while mitigating the big-inning possibility. The freshman left-hander then got William Ouellette staring at strike three to get out of it.

The Tritons reestablished their three-run cushion in the third as one-out singles by Plantier and Vince Mori (Oceanside/Palomar College/Westview HS) put men at the corners, and freshman first baseman Tyler Durna lifted his first career sacrifice fly.

That lead evaporated, however, in the home half, as Ouellette hit an RBI single with Coyotes at first and second following a one-out single and two-out walk. The CSUSB shortstop wound up at second on the throw, with both he and Brian Lockey managing to score on an ensuing wild pitch.

UCSD went right back to work and produced a four-run fourth courtesy of a trio of run-scoring hits, all with two away. A one-out Tyler Howsley single, two-out Sanchez single and opposite-field RBI single by Larsen put the Tritons back on top. All three were teammates at Mission Viejo's Capistrano Valley High School. Plantier then came up with an RBI single of his own through the left side. After Mori drew a walk, Durna pulled a two-run single to right for an 8-4 bulge and a pitching change.

The Tritons put together a five-run fifth, three-run seventh and four-run ninth to complete the rout.

Jack Rupe, Jr. (San Marcos/Mission Hills HS) took the hill in the third and turned in a second straight lengthy relief stint for a winning decision, this time to the tune of 5.1 frames with one run and two hits against him and a career-high eight strikeouts. The sophomore right-hander posted the first perfect frame by either side on the day after UCSD's four-run fourth, with a flyout, groundout and strikeout. Rupe (2-0) proceeded to retire 14 straight in all from the end of the third to the eighth, with everything but one flyout on the infield. At one point he struck out four Coyotes in a row, including the side in the seventh. Rupe had gone 5.2 shutout frames on Sunday.

Plantier went 4-for-7 with his home run, four runs scored and season-high four RBI, matching his college best. The hits, at-bats and runs were career highs. Durna also drove in four for the top total of his young career, going 2-for-3.

"Offensively we did a good job getting to their guy early and stayed really disciplined," said UCSD head coach Eric Newman. "Tyler (Plantier) and Jack (Larsen) were pretty special today, but we got great at-bats up and down the lineup."

Bell allowed three runs on three hits and three walks over 2.2 innings, striking out two. He cleaned up a one-out double in the second with a popout and lineout. True freshman right-hander Tim Nelson got three groundouts in a clean ninth.

Sullivan (3-2) lasted 3.2 frames, giving up eight runs on nine hits, three walks and a hit-by-pitch. He fanned two.

Game Two
Larsen's opposite-field double got things going in the first, after Sanchez had drawn a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch by starter Brian Conley.

True freshman right-hander Kyle Lucke went out and tossed a 1-2-3 home half on a called third strike and pair of groundouts.

UCSD worked a leadoff walk for the second straight frame in the second, Mori doing the honors. Redshirt sophomore catcher Steven Coe (Valley Center/Valley Center HS) followed with an opposite-field single through the right side. Howsley's team-best third sacrifice of the year moved both runners into scoring position, but after the second out at the plate on a fielder's choice, a groundout ended that threat.

The Coyotes opened their third with a single and a walk, but Lucke induced a huge 5-3 double play to cut the lead runner, with another groundout getting him through.

The fourth then started with back-to-back singles by Mori and Coe. Mori, at third base in the nightcap, had begun the twin killing in the previous frame. Tim White's walk loaded the bases for the top of the order. Sanchez hit a tapper back to Conley and Mori was thrown out at the plate, but catcher Andrew Lopez, in an attempt at the inning-ending double play, threw the ball down the right field line, allowing Coe and White to score for a 3-0 Triton advantage.

The teams traded single runs in the fifth and sixth. UCSD made it 4-0 in the fifth as Larsen singled to lead off, stole second with two gone and moved to third on a second Coyote error, and trotted home on Mori's RBI double to left center.

CSUSB tacked on a final score in the seventh before redshirt freshman right-hander Cameron Kurz finally shut the door for his fourth save, which is tied for the league lead. The Encinitas product (La Costa Canyon HS) struck out the side in the seventh around a leadoff walk and two-out double.

Lucke (3-0) threw 4.1 innings with one run against him on four hits and two walks. The big right-hander struck out two. He surrendered his first hit with two away in the second, but wiped that away by picking Ouellette off.

Larsen went 3-for-4 with a double, run, steal and two RBI. Coe wound up 2-for-2 with two walks and a run scored, with Mori 2-for-3 with a walk and his RBI double.

"Jack Larsen and Steven Coe really led us offensively and our pitching was pretty good early and late," added Newman about Saturday's second game. "Guys came in and got us some big outs from the bullpen. I thought it was a good team win."

Conley (1-2) went 5.0 frames and allowed four runs, two of them earned, on six hits and four walks. The sophomore right-hander struck out three.

Triton Notes: UCSD is 13-0 when scoring at least three runs in a game, and 9-0 when starting a true freshman on the mound ... Tyler Howsley has started 72 straight games, all at shortstop, dating back to the 2015 opener … True freshmen Brent Bell and Kyle Lucke each drew their third collegiate starts on the mound ... Game One: Tyler Plantier's first-inning home run was the third of his college career ... Plantier previously drove in four runs, also with a three-run blast, at Cal State East Bay on March 1, 2015 ... UCSD allowed a first-inning run for a fourth successive contest, winning them all, and is 6-0 in 2016 when surrendering a score in the opening frame ... The five-run fifth matched UCSD's largest output of the season from the eighth inning of Friday night's series opener ... The Tritons' 20 runs were their most since a 20-5 home win over Cal Poly Pomona during the NCAA West Regional on May 16, 2014, and the most by any CCAA team thus far in 2016 ... The Tritons' 21 hits were their most since collecting 23 in an 18-1 home win over CSUSB on April 21, 2015 ... The pinch-hit single by Andres Kim in the seventh marked the first college hit and RBI for the true freshman infielder ... Jack Rupe, Jr.'s eight strikeouts were the most by a Triton in a single game so far this year ... Christian Leung's doubles in the eighth and ninth were his first extra-base hits of 2016 ... Michael Palos' ninth-inning double was his first career extra-base hit and gave him a first collegiate two-hit game, adding a season-high two walks ... Zach Friedman's ninth-inning single marked the first hit of his senior season after a tough 0-for-18 start ... Game Two: UCSD snapped a string of four straight contests in which it relinquished a first-inning score ... Jack Larsen's fifth-inning stolen base made him 2-for-2 on the year and a still-perfect 16-for-16 for his college career.