Baseball 4/23/2016 4:00:00 PM UCSD

UCSD Drops Both Ends of Doubleheader at CSUMB

SEASIDE, Calif. - UC San Diego relinquished an early 3-0 lead and dropped a 4-3 decision to Cal State Monterey Bay in game one of a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) baseball doubleheader Saturday at the Otter Sports Complex. The host Otters then struck for five in the first inning of the nightcap, and rolled to an 8-2 victory to complete the sweep of the twin bill.

UCSD had its three-game win streak snapped in falling to 26-15 overall and 16-13 in the CCAA. CSUMB, a loser of four of its previous five heading in, improved to 28-13 overall and 17-12 in league play. With Cal Poly Pomona sweeping a home doubleheader over Cal State LA to win that four-game set, 3-1, the Tritons are now a full three games back in second place behind the Broncos in the CCAA South.

UCSD and CSUMB will conclude their weekend series with a single Sunday finale. First pitch at the Otter Sports Complex is set for 11 a.m. The game can be heard here, with live stats here.

Game One - CSUMB 4, UCSD 3
UCSD led off the second with back-to-back singles by Christian Leung and Justin Flatt, both on two-strike counts. Brandon Shirley's first sacrifice bunt of the season moved both Tritons into scoring position. A passed ball charged to Otter catcher Hayden Duer gave the visitors the early lead. Then on a grounder by Tyler Howsley that looked to be a candidate to start a routine inning-ending double play, the ball went right through Howsley's shortstop counterpart, Brian Bostjancic, enabling Flatt to plate a second run.

It took UCSD just seven pitches to add to its lead in the third, as Jack Larsen tripled to right on a 1-2 toss from Otter starter Gabe Katich, before Tyler Plantier (Poway/Del Norte HS) pulled a 2-0 pitch through the left side for an RBI single. Plantier then swiped second, but was stranded at third.

The home side got that run back right away in its half of the third, as a single, walk and sacrifice put Otters at second and third. An infield error made it 3-1. It could have been worse but for an unassisted lineout double play into Flatt's glove at first.

CSUMB levelled the score in the next frame, however, as Duer mashed a 2-0 fastball over the fence in left field after a one-out walk to teammate Justin Flores, for his league-leading ninth home run.

Howsley worked a walk to open the seventh and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Katich retired Tim White on a two-strike bunt attempt that went foul, and gave way to Jacob Cox, who got reigning CCAA and West Region Player of the Week JD Hearn looking. An intentional walk to Larsen preceded another strikeout, to Plantier.

Freshman right-hander Kyle Mora went 5.0 innings and allowed three runs on three hits and four walks, striking out four. He was perfect in the first and second, needing 11 and 12 pitches, respectively, for three groundouts, two flyouts and a punchout. With Otters at first and second in the fifth and the score tied at 3-3, Mora put a called third strike across on Flores to end that threat.

Alon Leichman took over to begin the sixth. After inducing an around-the-horn double play to wipe out a leadoff base-runner, the CCAA's leader in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 6.33 (38-6), issued successive free passes. His six prior walks had come over a team-high 55.1 innings pitched. The senior right-hander got a comebacker off the bat of Matt Urakami, however, to escape out of the jam.

CSUMB finally managed its first lead in the seventh. Bostjancic dropped a one-out double just in front of a sliding Shirley in right center. Big bat Kevin Davidson then smoked a liner deep to center, which Shirley tracked back and made a great catch on as he hit the wall, but Bostjancic was able to tag up and move to third. That proved to be crucial, as Howsley then expertly kept Flores' grounder up the middle on the infield, but his throw to Flatt was marginally late, meaning Bostjancic had come home with the go-ahead run for 4-3.

The Tritons were unable to turn Leung's leadoff single and a two-out fielding error into anything in the eighth, or White's leadoff walk in the ninth. They in fact pushed runners to second and third in the final half before a game-ending strikeout by Cox.

Larsen finished 3-for-3 with the triple, two walks and run scored. Leung went 2-for-5 with a run. Leichman (2-3) took the loss. Tim Nelson wiped out a one-out walk in the eighth with a 4-6-3 double play.

Katich went 6.1 frames and gave up three runs, just one of them earned, on seven hits, two walks and a hit-by-pitch. He fanned four, with just a single 1-2-3 inning in the sixth on a flyout, groundout and strikeout. Cox (1-0) picked up the win.

Game Two - CSUMB 8, UCSD 2
The nightcap began in promising manner for UCSD as Shirley and Hearn drew consecutive walks ahead of a double steal to put them both in scoring position, but starter Jared Koening struck out Larsen and Plantier swinging successively, and then got a called third strike on Flatt, to retire the side without a run coming across.

CSUMB then came right out and put together a five-run bottom. Back-to-back singles around a wild pitch put men at the corners with no outs, with a walk to Davidson loading the bases. Flores came through with a two-run single to center. An outfield error and two sacrifice flies accounted for the remaining scores in the frame.

UCSD threatened to cut into its deficit in the second, accepting two more walks after a two-strike leadoff single up the middle by Gradeigh Sanchez to fill the bags. That's when Koening once again found the strike zone, however, going 0-2 to the next two batters before punching them both out to keep the 5-0 bulge intact.

The home side looked primed to add to its cushion in the second, through a leadoff single and an ensuing first-pitch double, but freshman left-hander Preston Mott kept them on the bases with an infield lineout, strikeout of Davidson, and Flores flyout.

The Tritons pulled a single run back in the fourth as Koening fit two more walks around a pair of wild pitches before exiting. Redshirt freshman catcher Michael Palos greeted new pitcher Jake Chutney (2-0) with a sacrifice fly for 5-1.

CSUMB blew it open with a three-run fourth, all unearned. Mott erased a leadoff Urakami single by starting a 1-6-3 twin killing, but an infield throwing error ignited the three-run rally that was capped by a two-run Duer double off the wall.

A leadoff Hearn triple and infield RBI Flatt single in the fifth capped the scoring.

Jack Rupe, Jr. (San Marcos/Mission Hills HS) tossed 4.1 innings of shutout, one-hit relief, with five punchouts. He set the Otters down in order in the fifth and sixth, retiring the first eight batters he faced before a one-out Duer single in the seventh, and also registered a perfect eighth to end his day.

Mott (2-2) went 3.2 innings and allowed eight runs, three of them earned, on eight hits and three walks, striking out three. Sanchez was 1-for-1 with a single-game career-best three walks. Hearn wound up 2-for-3 with a double, triple, two walks, a run scored and stolen base.

Koening gave up one run on one hit, six walks and three wild ones over three-plus frames. He struck out six, with a 1-2-3 third, but his wildness kept him from sticking around long enough to qualify for the win, which went to Chutney (4.0 IP, R).

Triton Notes: UCSD is 25-4 in 2016 when it scores three runs or more, 1-11 with less than three runs, 11-6 in one-run games and 6-9 on the road ... For the fourth straight doubleheader to begin a conference series, head coach Eric Newman sent a pair of true freshman starters to the mound in right-hander Kyle Mora in game one and left-hander Preston Mott in the nightcap ... Tyler Howsley has started 98 straight games, all at shortstop, dating back to the 2015 opener ... Howsley and Jack Larsen are the only Tritons to start all 41 games in 2016 ... The Tritons produced four more double plays on the day, including three in game one, to give them 39 ... Game One: Mora drew his fifth start ... Tim White's second-inning sacrifice bunt was his fourth, now second on the team ... Larsen's leadoff triple in the third tied him with Brandon Shirley for the team lead ... Tyler Plantier's first collegiate two-steal effort gave him seven on nine tries ... Erik Amundson made his first appearance since March 5 ... Gradeigh Sanchez pinch hit in the eighth after missing his first three contests of the year against SF State last weekend ... It was a sixth straight one-run game for the Tritons (4-2) ... Game Two: Mott earned his team-leading 11th start ... Shirley and JD Hearn's first-inning steals were their team-leading eighth (in eight attempts) and sixth (in six), respectively ... Hearn's triple to lead off the fifth was his third, and UCSD's 19th of 2016.