LA JOLLA, Calif. - UC San Diego gave up three runs in the third and could only manage five hits on the day in dropping a disappointing 6-1 affair to Cal State East Bay in the rubber game of a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) baseball series Sunday at Triton Ballpark.
The teams had split their doubleheader on Saturday, with the Pioneers taking a 5-2 win in game one, and the Tritons walking off 7-6 victors in the nightcap.
UCSD fell to 28-17 overall and 18-15 in the CCAA, now a full five games back of leader Cal Poly Pomona in the CCAA South, with the Broncos in fact locking up the top spot in the division after Sunday's result. The Tritons did, however, clinch a third straight CCAA Championship berth on Saturday night. CSUEB strengthened its postseason prospects in moving to 27-16 overall and 18-14 in league play. The Pioneers remain in third in the CCAA North.
Jonah Dipoto (2-2) started and took the loss, allowing four runs on seven hits and one walk over 5.0 innings, with one strikeout. The Pioneers went down in order only once, in the ninth as senior left-hander Eric Moersen got a groundout and a foulout, before Erik Amundson replaced him to register a groundout. Amundson, a redshirt freshman right-hander, saw action in all three games this weekend, retiring all six batters he faced, including Pioneer third baseman and leading hitter Rudy Navarro three times.
The Tritons could only scratch across a single run in the seventh as redshirt sophomore second baseman Tim White slid an RBI single up the middle on a 3-2 pitch to score freshman first baseman Tyler Durna from second. Durna had singled to lead off, and advanced to second while Tyler Plantier (Poway/Del Norte HS) reached via error. Even then, that's all UCSD was able to get, as reliever Brandon Acosta avoided further damage through a flyout and two ground balls.
That tally made it a 5-1 game, but East Bay got it right back in the top of the eighth on a single, sacrifice, groundout, and RBI single up the middle by Marcus Wise.
UCSD was unable to bounce back from the three-run third. The Pioneers strung together four straight singles for openers, the latter two of the RBI variety by Raymond Jones and Navarro. In fact, the last three, starting with Wise on a perfect hit-and-run, were all to the opposite field. Troy Resch followed with an RBI fielder's choice. Junior centerfielder Jack Larsen prevented more runs by then ranging over into the gap in right center and laying out to make the great grab for the second out.
In addition to going 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk and UCSD's lone run, Durna also made a couple of exceptional defensive plays in his own right. He effectively did the splits to stretch for Hearn's throw across the diamond on Chris Porter's bunt in the second. Durna then saved another run by digging out redshirt sophomore catcher Steven Coe's (Valley Center/Valley Center HS) low throw after Jones had struck out on a ball in the dirt with a runner at third, ending the frame.
Plantier, who took over at third base and bumped Hearn to shortstop to start the eighth, produced two nice efforts with the glove in that inning.
UCSD concludes the 2016 regular season with a four-game, split-venue series with city rival and new CCAA foe Cal State San Marcos next Friday through Sunday, May 6-8. The single meetings on Friday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (12 p.m.) will be played in San Marcos, with a doubleheader set for a 12 p.m. first pitch on Senior Day at Triton Ballpark on Saturday. Five Triton seniors will be honored in between games.
Triton Notes: UCSD dropped to 1-13 when it scores less than three runs in 2016, and 21-8 at home ... Tyler Howsley has started 102 straight games, all at shortstop, dating back to the 2015 opener ... Howsley and Jack Larsen are the only Tritons to start or even appear in all 45 games in 2016 ... Jonah Dipoto drew his third start ... For the third straight three-game weekend, head coach Eric Newman sent a trio of true freshman starters to the mound ... JD Hearn appeared at shortstop for the first time as a Triton, moving over from third base to begin the eighth.
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