CARSON, Calif. - To say that eighth-ranked UC San Diego saw mixed results on Sunday at Toro Field, would be a bit of an understatement.

The Tritons took a disappointing loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills in the completion of a weather suspension to begin their lengthy day, and then gave two very different accounts of themselves in a doubleheader split that pinned them with a 3-1 loss in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) series.

UCSD first dropped an agonizing 9-8 decision in 11 innings in a contest halted Friday by rain in La Jolla. It was resumed in Carson at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, where it left off in the top of the 11th. The Tritons then rolled past the hosts behind a 20-hit barrage, 14-4, in game one of the regularly-scheduled doubleheader, only to get blanked 2-0 in the seven-inning nightcap.

At day's end, UCSD was left with records of 17-7 overall and 7-5 in the CCAA. The Tritons are 3-5 since opening the year 14-2, the program's best start in its NCAA Division II era. CSUDH is now 10-9 overall and an even 5-5 in league play. The streaking Toros had taken Thursday night's series opener in La Jolla, 9-2, and are winners of six of their last eight.

UCSD takes final exams this week and then meets No. 29 Cal Poly Pomona for a fourth straight split-venue, four-game series with a CCAA South Division foe. The Broncos are the reigning CCAA and West Region champions, as well as the preseason favorites. The series starts under the new lights at Scolinos Field in Pomona on Saturday night, March 19, at 6 p.m. UCSD knocked off then-10th-ranked CPP, 6-2, in La Jolla in a non-conference meeting back on Feb. 14, to snap a five-game losing streak in the rivalry.

Resumption
The resumption from Friday began with a single by Adrian Guzman, who was up with Toros at first and second and nobody out in the top of the 11th when play was halted. Centerfielder Brandon Shirley threw home, and the Tritons were able to cut down Adrian Padilla rounding second for the first out. Successive infield RBI singles, however, gave CSUDH the 9-7 advantage.

Vince Mori (Oceanside/Palomar College/Westview HS) began the bottom half by drawing a seven-pitch walk off new pitcher Peter Fierros after going down 1-2 in the count. Justin Flatt then doubled down the left field line, and Brandon Shirley's single up the middle made it 9-8, still with no outs. A sacrifice bunt by Steven Coe (Valley Center/Valley Center HS) moved the Triton runners both into scoring position, with Flatt having remained at second on Shirley's single. Back-to-back strikeouts by Fierros gave the junior right-hander his first save.

That made a winner of Jeffrey Gogue (2-1), with Zach Wallace (0-1) taking the loss.

UCSD had already come back from a 7-2 deficit to make it 7-7 Friday with four in the seventh and a single run in the eighth. Shirley had then led off the ninth with a triple, but was painstakingly left stranded there as the winning run. The Tritons similarly began a rally and failed to get a runner home from third with less than two outs, in the decisive 11th Sunday for a tough defeat.

Game One
Coming off the earlier dejection and going down in order in the first frame of game one of the doubleheader, UCSD overwhelmed the Toros to the tune of a 5-0 lead after three and 10-0 bulge through four, for a 20-hit parade and 14-4 triumph.

The Tritons were wholly energized by the 2016 debut of senior All-American Troy Cruz (Chula Vista/Bonita Vista HS). The local product wound up 1-for-2 with a run scored, two RBI and stolen base. He laid down a sacrifice bunt in his first at-bat of the season to help set up a two-run second, before an RBI single, steal and run scored in a three-run third. Cruz added a sacrifice fly in the fifth.

Tyler Howsley, who took a called third strike to end the resumed game, turned around and provided a career game, as the junior shortstop wound up 4-for-4 with a walk and career-high four RBI while handling seven more defensive chances cleanly, including two assists and a putout in the fourth. It was his second four-hit effort.

Tyler Plantier's (Poway/Del Norte HS) double led off the second and got UCSD going. Mori came up with an infield single, Cruz laid down the bunt, Coe and Howsley followed with RBI singles around a strikeout, and the rout was on. Larsen singled to open the third and stole second and third while two teammates fanned, as the Tritons manufactured a three-run, two-out rally. Cruz knocked in Larsen with an opposite-field single to right and swiped second ahead of Coe's RBI single. JD Hearn put down a bunt single and Howsley went to right center to plate Coe.

UCSD brought up the top of its order in the fourth and broke it open with five more. The Tritons filled the bags on a four-pitch walk to Plantier with one away and got two-run singles from Mori and Howsley around a bases-loaded walk to Hearn.

Jack Rupe, Jr. (3-1), meanwhile, drew the start on the mound and tossed a career-long 7.0 shutout innings, literally scattering three hits and one walk. He struck out five. The sophomore right-hander was perfect in the second, fifth and sixth, and put just one runner on base in the first, third, fourth and seventh. Every out he registered was on the infield except for a trio of flyouts to center to end the third, sixth and seventh. Before his lone walk in the fourth, he needed two pitches to get two groundouts to short, the frame ending on a lineout, also to Howsley. Rupe breezed through a 1-2-3 fifth on nine throws for a swinging strikeout, first-pitch popout and called third strike. Then he needed just six tosses in a clean sixth, retiring seven in a row in all.

Rupe quickly negated a leadoff infield single in the seventh by dialing up a 4-6-3 double play and a flyout.

Tim White pinch-hit triple, the first of his college career, led off the eighth, with the redshirt sophomore coming home on Michael Palos' sacrifice fly. Hearn singled with two gone and Howsley battled back from 0-2 down for a six-pitch walk. Following a passed ball, Flatt's single up the middle brought both Tritons in for 14-0.

Coe was 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs and two RBI, with Larsen 2-for-3 with a walk, three runs and two steals, both before exiting early. Mori went 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBI and his first stolen base as a Triton. Eight players had multiple hits.

Game Two
After again going down in order in its first turn at-bat, UCSD faced a leadoff single and two-out double in the home half, but freshman right-hander Kyle Lucke got a 4-6-3 twin killing and a comebacker to turn that threat away.

The Toros later loaded the bases in the third after Lucke plunked Guzman with his first offering after a four-pitch walk to Brandon Polizzi. Brady Conlan singled through the left side to score two on the first toss to him to conclude a nightmare six-pitch sequence for the Triton rookie. After a lineout, another freshman right-hander came on in Tim Nelson, and he was able to get a lineout to curb the damage.

Nelson worked a perfect eight-pitch fourth with everything on the infield, and dodged a leadoff infield Polizzi single and two-out Conlan double in the fifth.

Offensively, UCSD tried to mount a two-out rally in the third through back-to-back singes by Howsley and Gradeigh Sanchez, but a popout kept it scoreless at the time. The Tritons got a one-out Plantier walk in the fourth, leadoff Coe walk in the fifth and two-out Larsen in the sixth, but four fielder's choice groundouts and a double play ended all scoring prospects.

Cameron Kurz (Encinitas/La Costa Canyon HS) negated a walk to his first batter in the sixth, with a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play and another strikeout.

Anthony Cortez struck out the side around a two-out White double in the seventh for his second save.

Lucke (3-1) was able to get through only 2.2 innings with the two runs against on four hits, two walks and a hit-by-pitch. He struck out one and took his first collegiate loss. Lucke needed seven pitches in a 1-2-3 second.

Gogue (3-1) got the start for the Toros and picked up his second winning decision on the day. He retired the first eight Tritons. The senior left-hander began the series with a 13.00 ERA over seven appearances and 9.0 innings, but UCSD could not solve him. Gogue four-hit them over 8.1 shutout frames. Conlan finished 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI, with Polizzi 2-for-2 with a walk and run scored.

Triton Notes: UCSD moved to 17-1 this season when scoring at least three runs, and 0-6 with less than three ... UCSD is 11-4 when starting a true freshman on the mound ... The Tritons lost their first CCAA series since another split-venue 3-1 defeat to Cal Poly Pomona last April 2-4 ... Tyler Howsley has started 81 straight games, all at shortstop, dating back to the 2015 opener ... Resumption: Justin Flatt's double was his third ... The result marked the first time UCSD lost a game this year in which it scored three or more runs, moving to 16-1 ... Game One: Jack Rupe, Jr., earned his second start of the year and third of his career ... Tyler Plantier's second-inning double was his fourth ... Jack Larsen produced his second college game with two steals, and remains a perfect 4-for-4 on the year and 18-for-18 for his career ... As a team, UCSD swiped five bags in the contest, its most in a single game since nine, also in a doubleheader opener at Cal State Dominguez Hills, on April 15, 2012 ... The steal by Troy Cruz was his 18th as a Triton ... Tim White's eighth-inning triple was UCSD's league-leading 13th ... White's single in the ninth gave the Tritons their second 20-hit game of 2016, after a 21-hit output vs. Cal State San Bernardino on Feb. 27 ... The result meant UCSD's first two-game losing streak of 2016 ... Game Two: Kyle Lucke made his fifth start ... Howsley had reached base in six straight at-bats, with five singles and a walk, before grounding into a double play to end the fifth ... Steven Coe threw out two more would-be base-stealers to give him eight on the season ... White's seventh-inning double was his second ... The Tritons were shut out for a second time in 2016.

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