THE SCHEDULE
Games 1-2 - #OpeningDay
vs. The Master's College (5-0, 0-0 GSAC)
Saturday, Feb. 6 • 2 p.m. (DH)
Triton Ballpark • La Jolla
Live Video (Game 1 Only) • Live Stats

The 26th-ranked UC San Diego baseball program begins the 2016 campaign this Saturday, Feb. 6, hosting The Master's College (5-0) for an Opening Day doubleheader. First pitch at Triton Ballpark is set for 2 p.m. Both ends of the twin bill are scheduled for the regulation nine innings. TMC is rated No. 10 in the preseason National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) poll. The Tritons went 19-9 in La Jolla in 2015.

ADMISSION POLICIES FOR TRITON BALLPARK
General admission tickets to all regular-season home games at Triton Ballpark are $5. UCSD students are admitted FREE with valid identification. Dogs and other pets are not allowed, nor are coolers. University food truck, Flavors of the World, is on site for all home contests, with a more ballpark-oriented menu featuring the Triton Dog, sliders, nachos, pizza, sunflower seeds, peanuts and popcorn. Also new this year for those chilly primetime affairs are hot beverages like coffee, tea and hot cocoa. The food truck accepts Visa, MasterCard, Triton Cash and Dining Dollars.

PARKING INFO
Parking on the UCSD campus is free on weekends, but a permit is required for weeknight contests. They can be purchased at the machine near the entrance to the Triton Ballpark parking lot. Please be aware of the danger of foul balls to your vehicle when parking. Overflow parking is available in the lots beyond the right field wall, still along Voigt Drive.

LIVE COVERAGE
A selection of UCSD home games at Triton Ballpark feature live online video at our new streaming portal, UCSDtritons.tv. Audio commentary is provided again this year by former Triton pitcher (2007-08) Tim Strombel (@Timmy2Sides). On Opening Day, only the first game of the doubleheader will be broadcast. Some road contests also have video and/or audio. All games have live stats. Fans can access live coverage from the Schedule/Results page, or by clicking on the links above. Starting lineups, live between-inning updates and other in-game news and notes can be found by following Triton Baseball all season long on the UCSD Athletics Twitter handle (@UCSDtritons). Also be sure to follow the team @UCSDbsb. Finally, check out the new and improved CCAA live scoreboard here to keep up on results around the league.

UCSD, VIASAT LAUNCH ONLINE STREAMING PARTNERSHIP - SATURDAY'S OPENER FREE!
UC San Diego Athletics has partnered with local broadband services and technology giant ViaSat to create UCSDtritons.tv, an online streaming platform. The channel will carry all Triton home basketball and volleyball contests, a selection of baseball, softball and water polo games, and a variety of home events featuring virtually every one of UCSD's 23 intercollegiate sports at least once. All broadcasts are live, in high definition, and can be viewed for the first time from smartphones and tablets alongside desktop and laptop computers. UCSD alum and former pitcher (2007-08) Tim Strombel (@Timmy2Sides) is back for another season as the play-by-play voice of Triton Baseball. Viewing is subscription-based, though it will remain free from UCSD campus IP addresses. A package that gives viewers access to all streamed events through the 2015-16 academic year is available for $29.99. A single-day pay-per-view option can be purchased for $5.99, meaning doubleheaders are two-for-one. Most events will be archived. NOTE: Saturday's opening game is FREE to view! The nightcap is not able to be streamed.

MIGHTY 1090 INTERVIEWS
Mighty 1090 AM talent Jordan Carruth is conducting flavorful interviews with UC San Diego student-athletes and coaches on a weekly basis, and they are definitely worth a listen. The station recently launched a page dedicated to UCSD athletics, where you can find all of the archived interviews. Here are the links to baseball interviews:
• Coach Newman (2/3/16)

AVILA AGAINST ALMA MATER
UCSD pitching coach Rob Avila, who was promoted to the position of associate head coach during the off-season, will be up against his alma mater and former college coach this Saturday when the Tritons open the new season against The Master's College. Avila, entering his fifth season at UCSD, spent two years (1998-99) at TMC playing for Monte Brooks, who is in his milestone 20th season at the helm in Santa Clarita. In fact, Avila will be in charge during the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, as head coach Eric Newman serves a CCAA-mandated, one-game suspension for having been ejected in the third inning of last May's West Regional final, a 7-4 defeat to top seed Cal Poly Pomona. Avila's 1999 campaign still stands out in TMC's single-season record book, ranking first for RBI (66), second in home runs (15), tied for second in total bases (139), third in slugging percentage (.751), and tied for fourth in doubles (21). He earned his degree from the school in 2002.

POSSIBLE TRITON PITCHERS
Subject to change.
Sat. G1: RHP John Erhardt (RSo.; 0-1, 2.60 ERA in 2015)
Sat. G2: RHP Alon Leichman (RSr.; 7-2, 3.71 ERA in 2015)

RANKINGS REPORT
UCSD appeared at No. 26 in the preseason edition of Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's NCAA Division II top-40 poll (Dec. 22). The Tritons were also rated 16th in the preseason by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) (Jan. 27) and 19th by D2 Baseball News (Jan. 29). They were not ranked by Perfect Game (Jan. 28). Regionally speaking, the Tritons are listed No. 2 in the West, behind only Cal Poly Pomona, by both D2 Baseball News and the NCBWA.

THE NEW TRITON BALLPARK
Triton Ballpark on East Campus at UCSD was given a brand-new look outside the foul lines in 2015. Some of the main features of the extensive renovation include a permanent grandstand to seat just over 500, a press box, new sunken dugouts, an area for food trucks, and restrooms, among several other amenities. Read details here. Perhaps most significant is the Marye Anne Fox Clubhouse down the right field line, which was introduced to the players on March 17. The official Triton Ballpark re-opening and clubhouse dedication took place on April 10. View photo galleries from the ballpark construction, Opening Day and dedication.

LAST SEASON
UCSD finished in a tie for second in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with Cal State Monterey Bay 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 CCAA regular-season and tournament champion, top-seeded Cal Poly Pomona, in a riveting West Region final at Mt. SAC in Walnut.

ROSTER REVIEW
UCSD's 40-player 2016 roster features 17 letterwinners, five returning redshirts and 18 newcomers. The Tritons have retained six out of nine regular position players and two of four starting pitchers. They lost ace Justin Donatella to professional baseball, and fellow starter Trevor Scott, second baseman Erik Lewis, first baseman Michael Mann, catchers Brian Choi and Brett Levy, and bullpen stalwarts Javier Carrillo, Jr., Dan Kolodin and Chad Rieser to graduation.

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. Redshirt sophomore Steven Coe (Valley Center/Valley Center HS) is the only one of four catchers on the 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.

SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
UCSD's 2016 schedule consists of 50 regular-season games, including 31 at home within the friendly confines of Triton Ballpark. It all begins with a season-long 13-game homestand that runs through almost the entire month of February. The Tritons start league play with a split-venue, four-game set against Cal State San Bernardino in La Jolla on Friday night, Feb. 26. They face reigning conference and region champion and unanimous CCAA favorite Cal Poly Pomona in another split-venue, four-game series, March 19-21. UCSD then travels to Chico for the first time since 2013 to take on the archrival Wildcats of Chico State, picked to win the CCAA North, in a three-gamer March 25-26. The CCAA Championship will be held in the neutral-site city of Stockton for the fourth year in a row, returning to Banner Island Ballpark of the minor-league Stockton Ports after being contested at Klein Family Field on the campus of the University of the Pacific last May. The Tritons won their record sixth CCAA tourney title at Banner Island Ballpark when the event was last there in 2014.

TRITON STAFF
Alongside Rob Avila being promoted to associate head coach, Eric Newman added Jeff Calhoon and former Triton Tony York to his staff this off-season. Calhoon spent the last two years at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, having completed his playing career as the starting catcher at New York's Niagara University. York was a relief pitcher at UCSD from 2011-12, compiling 10 saves. Calhoon will coach third base, while York takes over in the first-base box. J.T. Bloodworth is back for a fourth season in the UCSD dugout, now in his second year as the Tritons' recruiting coordinator.

RECORD-SETTING PITCHING IN 2015
A stellar 2015 season for the Triton pitching staff saw UCSD break program records for earned-run average (2.84), shutouts (13), strikeouts (469) and strikeouts per nine innings (8.72), while finishing second in ERA in the CCAA and sixth nationally in Division II. The shutout mark ranked third in the country. UCSD has placed among the top three in the CCAA in ERA in three of the past four years.

STRONG FIELDING
UCSD continues a tradition of being strong defensively. The Tritons posted a .970 (1453-577-63) fielding percentage a season ago, rallying after a slow start to rank second in the CCAA, behind only Cal Poly Pomona (.971), and 21st in Division II. They have been in the top 30 nationally and top three in the conference in fielding for each of the past six seasons. In 2014, UCSD was also second in the CCAA (behind Chico State) with a .974 clip, and fifth in the country. In 2013, the Tritons were second in the league behind Chico State and 11th nationally (.972). They were 29th in Division II in 2012 (.966) and third in the conference. UCSD led the nation with a Division II- and school-record mark of .984 (1611-673-38) in 2010 and was fifth in 2011 (.972), pacing the CCAA both years. No program in the country has even fielded at a .980 rate since 2010.

TRITON NOTES
UCSD is 3-1 in season openers under Eric Newman and 12-3 since moving to Division II status for 2001 ... UCSD is 3-1 in CCAA openers with Newman in charge, with three straight wins after a 4-1 loss to Chico State in La Jolla on Feb. 17, 2012 ... The Tritons are 8-7 in CCAA openers all-time (since 2001), and 8-1 with six splits in sets to begin the league season ... Jack Larsen (first team), Troy Cruz (second) and Gradeigh Sanchez (second) were each named on Jan. 25 to NCBWA Preseason All-West Region teams ... UCSD was picked to place second overall and in the South in the 2016 CCAA race by the league's head coaches, as announced on Jan. 28, with reigning regular-season, tournament and West Region champion Cal Poly Pomona the unanimous favorite.

CCAA FORMAT CHANGES
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 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 squads in both the North and South divisions gaining the right to participate.

ROSTER NOTES
UCSD returns five all-conference performers from a year ago in senior All-American and three-time All-CCAA selection Troy Cruz (second team), junior Jack Larsen (first), senior Gradeigh Sanchez (first), redshirt sophomore Justin Flatt (honorable mention) and junior Tyler Howsley (HM) ... Cruz, Larsen and Sanchez also picked up All-West Region accolades in 2015 ... Howsley, Larsen and Sanchez played together at Mission Viejo's Capistrano Valley High School ... All but three players on the 40-man 2016 roster, senior pitcher Alon Leichman (Kibbutz Gezer, Israel), redshirt sophomore Tim White (Stratford, CT) and freshman Nick Balley (Austin, TX), are California natives ... Besides Cruz (Chula Vista/Bonita Vista HS), the six other San Diego products are redshirt sophomore Steven Coe (Valley Center/Valley Center HS), sophomores Tyler Plantier (Poway/Del Norte HS) and Jack Rupe, Jr. (San Marcos/Mission Hills HS), redshirt freshman Cameron Kurz (Encinitas/La Costa Canyon HS), and newcomers Vince Mori (Oceanside/Palomar College/Westview HS) and Griffen Case (Poway/Cathedral Catholic HS) ... Plantier is the son of Phil Plantier, who played eight seasons in Major League Baseball for five franchises, and served as the hitting coach of the hometown San Diego Padres from 2011-14 ... Freshman right-hander Jonah Dipoto is the son of Jerry Dipoto, who pitched eight seasons for three organizations, and is the general manager of the Seattle Mariners.

HEAD COACH ERIC NEWMAN
Eric Newman begins his fifth season as the UCSD head coach. The 2012 CCAA Coach of the Year has a 133-85 record (99-57 CCAA) in charge of the Tritons and 228-157 overall in his seven seasons as a head coach. Newman guided UCSD to the 2012 CCAA regular-season and tournament titles in his first go-around in La Jolla, and a subsequent trip to the NCAA Division II West Regional. His Tritons won a record sixth conference tourney crown in May of 2014 in Stockton, to again nab the CCAA's automatic bid into the NCAA Championship. With UCSD earning the region's top seed, Triton Ballpark played host to the 2014 NCAA West Regional. Newman has led the Tritons to three CCAA banners and three NCAA postseason berths in his four years, including back-to-back appearances in West Region finals, as well as four plus-.500 and three 30-win campaigns. He previously went 95-72 in three seasons at the helm of Dallas Baptist University from 2005-07. Newman was the fifth-round draft choice of the San Diego Padres out of Texas Tech in 1994, pitching professionally for eight years with four different organizations.

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
The Master's College (5-0) is located in Santa Clarita, and is a member of the NAIA's Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). The Mustangs finished 42-14 overall and 33-9 in league play in 2015, winning the regular-season GSAC title. They are off to a perfect 5-0 start to 2016, with all five wins coming at home. TMC swept a four-game series with Simpson by scores of 7-4, 9-0, 9-1 and 4-3 over the weekend, prior to a 3-0 three-hit shutout of Bethesda on Tuesday. One name familiar to Triton fans who UCSD is likely to see Saturday is senior right-hander Brad Lohse, who spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons at Chico State. The Tritons faced him three times in those two years, all in La Jolla, going 1-2 in three Lohse starts (1-1, 3.86 ERA, 14.0 IP, 18 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO). That included a 6-5 defeat in the 2014 West Regional in which Lohse (4.1 IP, 3 ER) did not figure in the decision. He threw 6.1 shutout frames (2 H, 0 BB, 5 SO) in his Mustang debut on Saturday, and is also being utilized as a designated hitter (.444, 4-for-9, four doubles). Monte Brooks is in his milestone 20th season in charge at TMC, with a record there of 575-399.

SERIES HISTORY
UCSD leads the all-time series, 30-18. The teams have not met in over a decade, since a 10-4 Triton victory in La Jolla early in the 2005 season on Feb. 8. That contest in fact has been the only game between the programs since UCSD moved up to the NCAA Division II level in 2001.

GEAR UP
For the latest in Triton athletic gear, make sure to visit ucsdtritonsgear.com. Run by UCSD Athletics' online partner, Advanced-Online, the site provides an on-demand option for Triton athletic apparel and merchandise. Fans have access to over 600 products that can be processed and shipped within 24 hours.

FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are in eighth grade or under, check out the Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UCSD home athletic events, and much more!

SOCIAL MEDIA (#TritonsRising)
UCSD Athletics on Facebook (UCSDtritons)
UCSD Athletics on Instagram (@UCSDtritons)
UCSD Athletics on Twitter (@UCSDtritons)
UCSD Athletics on YouTube (UCSDathletics)
Triton Baseball on Facebook (Tritonsbaseball)
Triton Baseball on Instagram (@ucsdbaseball)
Triton Baseball on Twitter (@UCSDbsb)
Coach Newman on Twitter (@CoachEricNewman)
Coach Avila on Twitter (@CoachAvi)
Coach Bloodworth on Twitter (@CoachBlood_)
Coach Calhoon Twitter (@CoachCalhoon)

UP NEXT
UCSD continues a season-long 13-game homestand to begin the 2016 campaign with a stretch of six contests over four days next week, beginning with a primetime tilt versus visiting Texas-Permian Basin on Thursday night, Feb. 11. First pitch at Triton Ballpark is set for 6 p.m. That game precedes 2 p.m. doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday against Texas-Permian Basin and Cal State San Bernardino, respectively. The busy weekend concludes with a rematch of the 2015 West Region final against No. 10 Cal Poly Pomona on Sunday, Feb. 14, at 2 p.m.

#TritonsRising