LA JOLLA, Calif. - Eighth-ranked UC San Diego dropped the opener of a four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) baseball series at Triton Ballpark on Thursday night, 9-2 to visiting Cal State Dominguez Hills.
UCSD fell to 16-5 overall and 6-3 in the CCAA after a second successive home defeat. The Tritons maintain a slim half-game lead in the CCAA South Division, with everyone else in the league idle Thursday. CSUDH won for the fourth time in five games and moved to an even 8-8 overall and 3-4 in league play.
The Toros jumped right on top with a three-run first through four straight one-out hits, including back-to-back doubles down the right and left field line by Brady Conlan and reigning CCAA Player of the Week, Miguel Castaneda, respectively, the latter to score two. Shawn Sweeney produced a two-out single through the right side with Parker Hokuf at second, but rightfielder Jack Larsen easily threw him out at the plate to keep it 3-0. It was Larsen's fifth outfield assist of the year. No other Triton outfielder has one.
UCSD got two of those runs back immediately in the home half. Brandon Shirley, back in the leadoff spot for the first time since Feb. 27, drove an 0-2 pitch to the opposite field in right center for a single. As starter TyRay Gatewood fanned a second straight Triton in Larsen, Shirley swiped second, making him a still-perfect 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts in 2016. On the first pitch he saw, Tyler Plantier laced an opposite-field triple, the first of his college career, tailing away from the centerfielder to the gap in right center. Vince Mori (Oceanside/Palomar College/Westview HS) then singled sharply to center to plate Plantier for 3-2.
That was all the Tritons could muster on the night, however, getting out-hit in the end, 20-6. It was the first time they surrendered 20-plus hits in a contest in almost a decade, since allowing 24 in a 17-5 home loss to San Diego Christian College on Feb. 6, 2007.
CSUDH added single runs in the third, seventh and eighth, before a three-run ninth ended any potential late drama.
Senior right-hander Alon Leichman (2-1) took the loss, going 6.0 innings and giving up four runs on a career-high 11 hits and one walk. He struck out five. Leichman had the bases loaded in the sixth after a hit-by-pitch, but got Nick Morelli to swing through a fastball to keep the Tritons' deficit just two at 4-2. He had one perfect frame in the fourth.
Gatewood (2-3) went 6.2 innings with two runs against him on five hits. He fanned eight and walked none. The senior right-hander retired 11 in a row at one point, and 14 out of 15, with that lone batter reaching on catcher's interference. Reliever Peter Fierros struck out the side swinging in order in the eighth.
Conlan was 5-for-6 with a double, three runs scored and one RBI for the Toros. He is the second Triton opponent to notch five hits in a contest in 2016, after CSUSB's William Ouellette went a perfect 5-for-5 in a 16-5 UCSD win on Feb. 28. Castaneda wound up 4-for-5 with a walk, two doubles, one run and three RBI.
UCSD and CSUDH continue their weekend series on Friday, March 11, in La Jolla. First pitch at Triton Ballpark is now set for 12 p.m., a change from the original primetime start of 6 p.m. due to adverse weather in the forecast.
Triton Notes: UCSD is 0-5 when scoring two runs or less in 2016 ... Tyler Howsley has started 78 straight games, all at shortstop, dating back to the 2015 opener ... Alon Leichman made his 18th start for UCSD ... Gradeigh Sanchez had spent five straight games in the leadoff position before Brandon Shirley appeared there tonight for the first time since the opener of the Feb. 27 doubleheader ... The Tritons' previous high for hits allowed in 2016 was 14 in an 8-2 home loss to Cal State San Bernardino to begin a non-conference doubleheader on Feb. 13 ... Steven Coe's team-best 16-game streak of reaching base safely was snapped at 0-for-4.
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