LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 23rd-ranked UC San Diego baseball team swept a dramatic doubleheader over No. 24 Cal Poly Pomona on Sunday at Triton Ballpark, blanking the Broncos 3-0 in the opener before producing a come-from-behind, walk-off 2-1 triumph in the seven-inning nightcap.
The results clinched the key California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) series between the South Division rivals, as UCSD had already posted a 6-3 victory to begin the four-game set in Pomona on Saturday night, rallying late in that one as well.
The Tritons reached plateaus of 20 wins overall and 10 wins in league play, improving to 20-7 and 10-5, respectively. CPP, which entered the series a winner of four straight, falls to 15-9 overall and 7-6 in the CCAA. UCSD began the day percentage points behind the Broncos in second place in the South, but has now moved back atop the division standings.
Preston Mott, a left-hander out of Clovis (Clovis HS), tossed six shutout innings in game one before handing it over to another true freshman in right-hander Kyle Mora as the duo combined on UCSD's first shutout of 2016. It was a first collegiate win, in fact the first career decision, for Mott, now 1-0 following his sixth start. Mora earned his third save. The Tritons had led the league with a school-record 13 shutouts, third-most in all of the NCAA Division II, a year ago.
In the nightcap, UCSD struggled against junior right-hander Michael Koval for CPP, but stuck around, trailing just 1-0, until striking for single runs in the sixth and seventh. Redshirt sophomore catcher Steven Coe (Valley Center/Valley Center HS) reached on an infield error with two gone in the seventh, moved to second on a wild pitch, to third on an infield single, and trotted home when Bronco rightfielder Daniel Pitts was just narrowly unable to make the catch on junior shortstop Tyler Howsley's sharp opposite-field RBI single into shallow right center.
It was a first collegiate walk-off hit for Howsley, and a second walk-off triumph for UCSD in 2016. Coe has scored the run in both. Junior rightfielder Jack Larsen, a teammate of Howsley's throughout their prep days at Capistrano Valley High School, had hit an opposite-field, two-out RBI double to left center in the sixth to tie the score. That was after he threw out a Bronco at the plate in the top half that would have given the visitors a 2-0 cushion.
"Credit to their pitcher, who was doing a great job early in the game," said Howsley. "He no-hit us through (3.2) innings. We just had to keep grinding, keep competing, and eventually we knew that things were going to start happening for us. The guys in front of me did a great job in the seventh inning, and I was just fortunate enough to be able to be the one to get the walk-off (hit)."
The Tritons will go for the series sweep, back in Pomona, on Monday night, March 21. First pitch at Scolinos Field is set for 6 p.m., with the Broncos expected to throw their ace, junior right-hander Ryan Olson (3-0, 1.93 ERA). UCSD's starter is to be announced.
Game One - UCSD 3, CPP 0
UCSD struck first for one run in the opening frame for the second game in a row against CPP, but was lucky in the end to win the contest despite only being able to come up with that single tally. Gradeigh Sanchez drew a seven-pitch walk, ahead of back-to-back singles to center on two-strike counts by Larsen and Christian Leung to load the bases. Bronco starter Peter Bayer walked Vince Mori (Oceanside/Palomar College/Westview HS) to force Sanchez in, but a base-running error led to a rare popout double play, with a called third strike limiting the damage.
Mott had already himself dodged a threat in CPP's first turn at the plate, after allowing a leadoff double to Chris Stratton. A sacrifice, popout and groundout, with Mott handling the putout, left Stratton stranded at third.
Bayer settled in and retired 13 straight Tritons after the base on balls to Mori, tossing perfect frames in the second, third and fourth. Consecutive two-out, four-pitch walks to Howsley and Sanchez broke up that run, but Bayer fanned Larsen.
Mott got a huge helping hand from one of the many heroes on the day, Larsen, who literally did it all. Stratton hit his second double in as many at-bats in the third, with two away ahead of a walk to Nicholas Bruno. Bronco slugger Jared James then put a charge into one that was tailing toward the gap in left center, but Larsen, playing center at the time, tracked it and got horizontal for an incredible catch that saved two runs. Stratton wound up 3-for-4 with his fourth and fifth doubles on the year.
"That was huge," remarked Mott. "That was the play of the game. I was struggling a little bit that inning with my command. (Jack) just made a great play on the ball. It was hit well by one of their better hitters, and he just tracked it down. It took away all of their momentum, and gave it to us."
Mott in fact put multiple runners on in three successive frames from the second through the fifth, after his only 1-2-3 inning in the second on two groundouts around a called third strike. He cleaned up a leadoff single in the fourth with a routine 6-4-3 double play off a hard-hit ball straight to Howsley. Two more singles preceded a fielder's choice grounder. Mott then completed the fifth with something that is becoming a bit of a trademark, as he picked Stratton off of second.
"Not much really gets to me," added Mott. "I've been in a lot of pressure situations before. If things aren't going well, I know how to just work, compete and get outs."
Mora took over for a quick 10-pitch seventh before UCSD tacked on a pair of big insurance runs in the home half. The rally started with Brandon Shirley, who had just entered as a defensive replacement in center to begin the inning, beating out an infield single on a 1-2 pitch. It was the Tritons' first hit since Larsen and Leung's for openers. A walk and a throwing error by Bronco reliever Peter Beattie on a sacrifice bunt by Howsley filled the bags. After a pitching change, Sanchez stroked a solid RBI single to right center, and Larsen lifted a sacrifice fly for a 3-0 advantage.
Mora navigated around a walk in each of the final two frames to close it out. He issued the first one to lead off the eighth. He then got James to chop into what appeared to be a pretty straightforward 3-6-3 twin killing. Flatt, who had moved from right field to first base in the seventh, sailed his throw, however, but lucky for the Tritons, they have Howsley at short, who expertly corralled it and tapped the bag with his glove just in time to register the first out. A 4-3 double play off the bat of Jason Padlo, and it was on to the ninth.
Second baseman JD Hearn, who started that double play, dove to his left for a tough stop on a ground ball by Nic Hernandez to begin that ninth. First baseman Tyler Durna had earlier made the nice pick of a strong but skipped throw by Howsley for the first out in the sixth.
Mott (1-0) allowed seven hits and two walks over his six shutout innings, with one strikeout. He has baffled the reigning CCAA and West Region champion Broncos to the tune of 11 scoreless in two starts against them. Mott took a no-decision in a 6-2 non-conference win on Feb. 14. Mora just had the two bases on balls in his three no-hit frames. Sanchez finished 1-for-2 with two walks, one run and one RBI.
"It's just a great feeling," concluded Mott. "We've been working really hard, and I've been working really hard. All of that is just paying off. We've had a couple of rough weeks, but we put it all together and got two wins today, which is big."
Bayer (1-2), a first-year transfer from Richmond, was very effective in his five innings, but could only go that far as UCSD had already worked him up to 97 pitches.
Game Two - UCSD 2, CPP 1 (7)
UCSD and starter Alon Leichman were getting in and out of trouble throughout the first five innings of the shortened nightcap, with the senior right-hander giving up 10 hits, but only a single run, as CPP left 12 on base in the contest. In fact, the Broncos totaled their 12 hits with two in each of the first six frames.
The visitors began the game with back-to-back singles, but Coe picked Bruno off of first, Leichman got James looking, and Padlo grounded out with Flatt making the tough pick-up at first base.
CPP finally dented the scoreboard in the fourth as No. 9 hitter Jacob Bernardy took an 0-2 offering back up the middle to score Ryan Webberley from third.
Meanwhile, Koval was dealing. UCSD did not have a hit until successive two-out singles by Larsen and Tyler Plantier (Poway/Del Norte HS) in the fourth, only for Mori to ground out to maintain CPP's 1-0 edge, but only momentarily.
True freshman right-hander Jonah Dipoto relieved Leichman to begin the sixth, and let up a single before a wild pitch moved Cody Martin in scoring position. Bernardy came through with an opposite-field single to right, but Martin had no shot at beating Larsen's strong throw from right for his team-best seventh outfield assist. Another wild pitch and a groundout put Bernardy at third, but Dipoto got Bruno looking to keep him there, and the deficit still at a manageable 1-0.
Howsley led off the home sixth with a single to right center. With two gone, he advanced to second on Koval's wild pitch. That's when Larsen laced a 2-2 toss after taking two strikes, into the gap in left center to suddenly level the score.
Redshirt freshman right-hander Cameron Kurz (Encinitas/La Costa Canyon HS) took the hill in the seventh and walked James on eight pitches for starters, before a wild one moved another Bronco into scoring position with nobody out. Kurz came back to get Padlo looking at a fastball on the inside corner, and issued a free pass of the intentional variety to Hernandez. Webberley flied out to Larsen to push James over to third, but Kurz got the fielder's choice groundout to Howsley off the bat of Pitts.
After two quick outs on four Koval pitches in the last half, Webberley couldn't handle Coe's grounder up the middle. Coe sprinted to second on Koval's second wild pitch. Hearn then wedged an infield single perfectly into the hole. Howsley went to right center for a second straight at-bat and second straight inning. It wasn't entirely clear to the naked eye behind the spectator grandstand, as to whether Pitts had made the grab or not, but both base umpires ultimately made the safe signal as the Triton dugout erupted.
Kurz (1-0) laid claim to his first collegiate winning decision a day after earning his league-best fifth save in Pomona. Leichman did not walk anyone over his gritty outing. Larsen and Howsley each went 2-for-3, with a double and an RBI for Larsen and a run and an RBI for Howsley. Larsen increased his CCAA-best RBI total to 27.
Koval (3-1), coming off of a five-hit, nine-inning shutout against Cal State San Marcos in his previous outing exactly one week prior, was the tough-luck loser in front of about a dozen professional scouts on hand with the Alta Loma native hitting 92 miles per hour. Around half that were watching Bayer earlier. Koval gave up the two runs, one of them earned, on six hits and one walk over his 6.2 frames, with six strikeouts. Five Broncos had two hits apiece offensively.
Triton Notes: UCSD moved to 19-1 this season when scoring at least three runs, and with the nightcap triumph, 1-6 when managing less than three ... The Tritons are 4-0 against CPP in 2016 after dropping the final five meetings between the sides a season ago ... Tyler Howsley has started 84 straight games, all at shortstop, dating back to the 2015 opener ... Howsley and Jack Larsen are the only Tritons to start all 27 games in 2016 ... Game One: Preston Mott drew his sixth start ... Justin Flatt started in right field for the first time in his college career ... Howsley's seventh-inning sacrifice was his team-best fourth after also leading the Tritons with 10 a year ago ... Larsen's seventh-inning sacrifice fly was his first this season ... Game Two: Alon Leichman made his 19th start for UCSD and team-high seventh this year ... UCSD has two walk-off wins in 2016, with Steven Coe scoring the run in both.
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