STOCKTON, Calif. - UC San Diego rallied from a 5-0 deficit to pull even, but No. 25 Cal Poly Pomona managed to run away again for a 9-6 victory in an elimination game on day three of the 2016 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Baseball Championship Friday at Banner Island Ballpark.
Fourth-seeded UCSD, the designated visitor, saw its campaign ended at 31-21. Top seed CPP moved into Saturday action at 36-16. The Broncos will play at 12 p.m. against the winner of Friday's nightcap between second-seeded Cal State East Bay and No. 6 seed Chico State. East Bay is the lone unbeaten left in the tourney. The survivor of Saturday's early game would have to play again at 4 p.m. in the final.
UCSD was 4-1 against CPP on the year heading in, having won the four-game, split-venue league series between the sides, 3-1, March 19-21, after a 6-2 non-conference decision in La Jolla back on Feb. 14. The Broncos also ended the Tritons' 2015 season, 7-4, in the NCAA West Region final in Walnut.
In the end, it was one deficit too many for UCSD, which had fallen behind 7-0 after one inning and 9-0 after three before a spirited rally came up short in an 11-7 loss to Cal State Monterey Bay in its tourney opener on Wednesday night. The Tritons then were down 6-2 after four before scoring five unanswered, including three in the ninth, to walk off a 7-6 winner over Chico State Thursday to stay alive. Again on Friday, it was a four-run first for CPP and a 5-0 margin after three to overcome. UCSD leveled matters with a five-spot in the fifth, but could not muster the shutdown frame in the home half, going back down 7-5 ahead of a second straight two-run inning in the sixth.
Even still, chasing four with three outs left to play with in the ninth, the Tritons got a one-out single from Jack Larsen ahead of a double to right center by Steven Coe (Valley Center/Valley Center HS). With two away, an infield error brought Larsen home and the tying run to the plate in the form of pinch-hitter Tyler Plantier (Poway/Del Norte HS). The sophomore lifted a ball that looked like it might get over the head of the second baseman, but Chris Stratton leapt to make the catch.
CPP generated a leadoff double into the gap in left center in the opening frame, with a sacrifice and four-pitch walk putting Broncos at the corners. Caleb Romo's opposite-field double into the other gap cleared the bases for a quick 2-0 advantage, though Romo was thrown out trying to extend his double into a triple. Nic Hernandez poked a single to right, and Daniel Pitts followed with his fifth home run, out to left, for 4-0.
The first two Broncos walked in the second, and though the Tritons almost got out of it with a popped up bunt and flyout around a pitching change, Romo was able to dump an RBI single in front of leftfielder Christian Leung after a lengthy at-bat, for 5-0. CPP went ahead and loaded the bases before Tim Nelson got Pitts to fly out.
Like their first turn at the plate, two Tritons reached in the third as well, this time on a four-pitch leadoff walk to Tyler Howsley and a two-out single by Hearn, but a groundout ended that threat.
After Nelson produced a perfect third on two more flyouts and a groundout, Coe opened the fourth with a single to center on an 0-2 pitch from Ryan Alsworth. Nothing came of that, either.
The Tritons were back at it in the fifth, and in fact leveled the score at 5-5. Howsley slid a single right between the third baseman and shortstop, and Gradeigh Sanchez reached via the game's first error to get the rally going. White lifted a single to right on a 1-2 pitch to bring Howsley home and put UCSD on the board.
A wild pitch then plated Sanchez. A strikeout and a walk brought up Coe, who doubled down the left field line to chase White and represent the tying run at second. Justin Flatt, who had entered in left field in the bottom of the third, then worked the count full and stroked a two-run single through the right side to score Larsen and Coe. CPP finally stopped the bleeding following a pitching change.
That euphoria was short-lived, however, as the Broncos opened the fifth with a hard-hit Romo double out to left center that narrowly eluded Triton centerfielder Brandon Shirley with the valiant effort, before Hernandez pulled a two-run home run, his seventh, over the wall in right center to regain a 7-5 advantage.
Peter Beattie set UCSD down in order on a trio of groundouts to Stratton, and Jared James continued a big day by launching a seventh home run of his own to right to begin the home sixth. The Broncos added a run later in the frame on a Hernandez single. Redshirt freshman right-hander Erik Amundson came on with men at first and second, and promptly on his second toss, induced the routine 6-4-3 double play to keep the deficit manageable.
The Tritons got nothing out of back-to-back one-out singles in the seventh, before Amundson navigated around a leadoff infield error in the bottom half.
On his 19th birthday, left-hander Preston Mott went 1.1 innings and allowed five runs on five hits and three walks. Mott was making his third start of the season against the Broncos, having gone 11.0 shutout frames against them in those two stints, both Triton wins. Mott was a third straight true freshman to take the ball from fifth-year UCSD head coach Eric Newman in the tournament. Mott was relieved by fellow true freshmen Kyle Lucke and Nelson. Nelson (7-2) cleaned up a leadoff single by James in the fourth by dialing up a 4-6-3 double play and a groundout.
Coe wound up 4-for-5 with two doubles, one run and one RBI. Those were single-game career bests for hits and doubles. The redshirt sophomore previously didn't even have a three-hit game as a Triton, with four career doubles. Coe was named to the CCAA All-Tournament Team following its conclusion. White and Hearn each went 2-for-5, with White adding a run and RBI. Larsen was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs. Howsley finished 1-for-3 with a walk and a run. Flatt drove in a pair.
Alsworth, also making his third start of the year against the Tritons, gave up five runs, four of them earned, on eight hits and three walks in his 4.1 frames. The sophomore right-hander struck out four. He, like Mott, had thrown effectively in his first two outings against UCSD, but was unable to duplicate that success Friday. Beattie (5-1) picked up the winning decision.
Friday marked the third straight game in Stockton in which UCSD knocked out the opposing starter in the fifth.
The result also meant the end of the Triton careers of seniors Sanchez, Alon Leichman, Eric Moersen, Zach Friedman and Trey Ferketic.
Triton Notes: UCSD finished the year 30-6 when scoring three or more runs, and 9-12 away from home ... Wrapping up their 12th appearance at the CCAA Championship, the Tritons are 25-16 (.610), including 11-6 in Stockton, 4-2 at Banner Island Ballpark, and 8-5 in four trips under fifth-year head coach Eric Newman ... UCSD still leads the all-time series with CPP, 43-31, and is an even 4-4 against the Broncos in CCAA tourney play ... Tyler Howsley has started 109 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 52 games in 2016 ... Larsen was in the cleanup position for the third straight game and third time this year ... Gradeigh Sanchez was in the lineup as the designated hitter for the seventh time this year ... Preston Mott earned his team-leading 14th start ... The Tritons walked three times, as they pace the league for a third straight year with 225 ... UCSD turned two double plays to leave its CCAA-best total at 53 ... Jack Larsen's outfield assist in the first was his team-best 10th ... Triton pitching had not surrendered more than one home run in a single game all year until Wednesday's three in their CCAA tourney opener against CSUMB, and allowed three more Friday, for seven total in Stockton ... UCSD began the week with just 12 home runs against in 49 contests ... CPP matched the season high for a Triton opponent with its seven extra-base hits, with CSUMB having achieved the same amount on Wednesday night, likewise from four doubles and three long balls ... Erik Amundson did not give up a run since his April 23 return to action (nine appearances and 8.1 IP), and was near-perfect as the lone Triton arm to enter all three games in Stockton this week (5.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO).
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