STOCKTON, Calif. - Despite a spirited comeback effort, a seven-run first-inning blitz behind two home runs sent UC San Diego down to defeat against Cal State Monterey Bay, 11-7, in the teams' opener at the 2016 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Baseball Championship Wednesday night at Banner Island Ballpark.
Fourth-seeded UCSD, the designated visitor, fell to 30-20. Third-seeded CSUMB moved to 33-17. The contest marked the second straight year in which the two sides began the CCAA tournament against one another. The Tritons won the 2015 matchup, 5-2, but Wednesday's result gave them three straight tourney losses since.
CSUMB moves on to play No. 2 seed Cal State East Bay, a 13-2 winner over Cal State San Bernardino earlier, on Thursday night at 7 p.m. UCSD will face sixth seed Chico State, which bested top-seeded Cal Poly Pomona 6-2 to begin the day, on Thursday at 3 p.m. with another loss meaning elimination and the end of its season.
CSUMB starter Gabe Katich struck out the side in the first half around a two-out single and steal by JD Hearn, but the Tritons were able to coax 22 pitches off the junior right-hander.
Just five tosses into Triton freshman Jonah Dipoto's outing, however, it was 2-0 Otters as senior slugger Kevin Davidson lifted a two-run home run over the left field wall to follow Brian Bostjancic's leadoff single. It put Davidson ever-so-briefly into a first-place tie atop the conference in long balls with teammate Hayden Duer at 11 each. Justin Flores then laced an opposite-field double off that same wall, and Duer broke that tie with Davidson, blasting his 12th to straightaway center for a quick 4-0 lead. It took another single and walk before an initial out was recorded.
CSUMB ultimately drove Dipoto (2-3) out of the game, sent 11 to the plate with seven hits and a walk, and came away with a 7-0 bulge. Indeed the scoring was capped on a two-run infield single by Bostjancic, as junior shortstop Tyler Howsley made a great diving stop up the middle, but his throw to first was not in time.
UCSD generated a leadoff base-runner and advanced him to second with two gone in both the second and third, but wasn't able to cut into its deficit.
The Otters produced a third two-run home run in the third, Chris Blanton stroking his second of the year out to right for 9-0 after a leadoff walk.
The Tritons got those two scores back in the fourth. Steven Coe (Valley Center/Valley Center HS) was plunked by Katich with one gone, and Christian Leung drew a four-pitch free pass. Brandon Shirley then laced an RBI double down the left field line. Senior first baseman Zach Friedman followed by sending an RBI single into center to bring in Leung, but Shirley was called out at the plate.
Unfortunately, Monterey Bay was undisturbed, loading the bases right back up on a hammered single by Davidson and double by Flores into opposite gaps before an infield error, still with no outs, and coming away with two more runs. Jack Larsen sprinted and made an incredible diving catch toward the right field line to rob Matt Urakami of a bases-clearing double or likely triple.
UCSD loaded the bases in the fifth as Gradeigh Sanchez drew a four-pitch walk with one away, ahead of another opposite-field Hearn single to right, and walk to Larsen. After a mound visit, Coe took two strikes, worked the count full, and dumped a two-run single into left center. Leung walked to fill the bags again, and Shirley was hit by new pitcher Steven Zaharias to force in Larsen. The Tritons would have to settle for just those three, closing to within six at 11-5.
Redshirt freshman right-hander Erik Amundson came on and quickly retired the Otters in order for the first time on the night, getting a nice play by Howsley on a groundout, with Friedman then coming out of nowhere to snare a pop-up that Coe was pursuing. Amundson then caught Flores looking to end the frame.
The Tritons proceeded to load the bases for a second straight inning, on singles by Sanchez and Hearn after a hard-hit out by leadoff man Tim White, and a well-worked six-pitch walk from a 1-2 deficit, his second in as many innings, by Larsen. Zaharias wriggled out of it, however, with an infield popout and swinging strikeout.
CSUMB in turn threatened in the home half, putting men at first and second on a one-out hit-by-pitch and walk by Kyle Lucke, but the true freshman got out of it. A fielder's choice ground ball left Otters at the corners with two gone, before the big right-hander threw a breaking ball past a swinging A.C. Nuñez.
Redshirt freshman Cameron Kurz (Encinitas/La Costa Canyon HS) got out of another jam for UCSD in the seventh, as he registered a flyout, swinging strikeout on Duer, and popout, in a bases-loaded, no-outs situation.
Sanchez in turn began the eighth by fouling off a trio of 3-2 offerings and taking ball four on Drew Kozain's ninth offering. A hard lineout to right by Hearn preceded a strikeout and groundout that kept the margin still at six.
Tim Nelson fanned the side in order in the eighth, the first two on called third strikes.
Leung hit a flare into shallow left center to open the ninth, but centerfielder Will Rosado sprinted in and made a tough, diving snare. Pinch-hitter Justin Flatt and Friedman followed by pulling singles to right to put Tritons at the corners against Otter closer Kyle Narahara. After a flyout, White battled back from 0-2 down to work the count full, and skied one to right center that Flores couldn't get a handle it, falling for a two-run double to make it an 11-7 game. Narahara finally got Sanchez to ground out to put a capper on the contest. Zaharias (2-2) was awarded the win.
Coe finished 1-for-3 with a walk, hit-by-pitch, run scored and two RBI. Hearn was 3-for-5 with a run and a steal. Howsley went 2-for-4 with an opposite-field single through the right side to begin the third, and a single to right center in the seventh. Friedman had a pair of singles, run and RBI in his five trips.
Jack Rupe, Jr. (San Marcos/Mission Hills HS) tossed 3.2 frames in relief of Dipoto and gave up four runs, two of them earned, on six hits and two walks. He struck out two. The sophomore right-hander cleaned up a leadoff hit-by-pitch in the second with a 6-4-3 double play. Another routine 6-4-3 twin killing got him out of the third.
Katich gave up five runs on six hits and five walks over 4.1 frames, striking out six but unable to stick around for the win. The All-CCAA Second Team selection had not thrown since beating UCSD on April 23.
The Tritons were swept in a three-game series at Chico State, March 25-26, but have won five straight CCAA tournament matchups, including two at Banner Island Ballpark en route to their record sixth banner in 2014.
Triton Notes: UCSD is 29-5 when scoring three or more runs in 2016, and 8-11 away from home ... In their 12th appearance at the CCAA Championship, the Tritons are 24-15 (.615), including 10-5 in Stockton and 7-4 in four trips under fifth-year head coach Eric Newman ... Wednesday marked their first loss at Banner Island Ballpark after three wins in 2014 ... UCSD still leads the all-time series with CSUMB, 31-17, and is 1-1 against the Otters in CCAA tourney play ... The game marked UCSD's first neutral-site action ... Tyler Howsley has started 107 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 50 games in 2016 ... Larsen was in the cleanup position for the first time all year, and first time since the 2015 season finale at the NCAA West Regional on May 18, 2015 ... Gradeigh Sanchez was in the lineup as the designated hitter for the fifth time this year ... Jonah Dipoto earned his fourth start ... JD Hearn's first-inning steal was his 10th in 11 tries, tying him for the team lead with Brandon Shirley ... The seven runs marked the largest first inning against UCSD this season, with a previous high of five also against CSUMB, in Seaside on April 23 ... UCSD turned two more double plays to give it 49 on the year, now one ahead of CSUSM for most in the CCAA ... The Tritons walked seven times to take over the league lead for the third straight year, also one ahead of CSUSM, with 219 ... The home run given up by Jack Rupe, Jr. in the third was the first against him ... Triton pitching allowed more than one home run for the first time, with CSUMB the CCAA leader (48), and gave up a season-high seven extra-base hits ... Shirley's fourth-inning double was his sixth ... UCSD surrendered double-digit runs for just the third time, the other two times at home against Stanislaus State, having won one of those two ... The 11 runs matched the most by a Triton foe ... Tim White's ninth-inning double was his fourth ... Newman and sixth-year CSUMB head coach Walt White were teammates around 2001 with the El Paso Diablos, then the Double-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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