LA JOLLA, Calif. - Seventh-ranked University of California San Diego stranded 18 runners on base and fell to San Francisco State University, 4-1, in the 2018 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) opener for both teams Friday night at Triton Ballpark.
With the defeat, UC San Diego drops to 4-2 overall and 0-1 in the CCAA. SF State earns its first win of 2018 and moves to 1-5 overall and 1-0 in league play. The Tritons had won each of the six meetings during the 2016 and 2017 seasons, and nine of 10.
The Tritons left the bases loaded in the first, fifth, eighth and ninth, and left two runners in the third and seventh. It is their most at least going back through 2013.
Redshirt junior Alex Eliopulos (La Jolla/La Jolla HS) produced his first four-hit game as a Triton, finishing 4-for-5 with hits in his first four plate appearances, including an opposite-field double in the third, and his team's lone RBI. The run came in the fifth as junior first baseman Tyler Durna reached on an infield error to lead off, moved to second on a wild pitch, to third on Zander Clarke's single through the left side, and scored on Eliopulos' opposite-field single, also through the left side.
In his Triton Ballpark debut, senior transfer Mitch Hickey (1-1) went 6.0 innings and allowed three runs on four hits and seven walks. The right-hander struck out three. Hickey breezed through a 10-pitch first on a first-pitch groundout, called third strike and flyout. Junior right-hander Kyle Lucke took over for two shutout frames, fanning four. Antonio Barrios tossed the ninth and was tagged with an unearned run.
Senior right-hander Matthew Hernandez (1-1) gave up one unearned run on six hits and three walks over 6.0 frames for the Gators. He struck out a career-high 12, including the side in order in the sixth, which marked SFSU's only 1-2-3 inning. Cameron Crone picked up the save, registering the last four outs.
Jack Harris scored each of the Gators' first three runs, finishing 2-for-3 with a double, triple, walk and stolen base.
The first five pitches Hernandez threw in the home first were balls, but a 4-6-3 double play ultimately served as a sign of things to come on a night when the Tritons just could not find the hit they needed.
Durna made a nice defensive play in the fifth, picking the short-hop toss from Hickey on a first-pitch, leadoff bunt attempt. After a walk in the same frame, freshman shortstop Shay Whitcomb made a tough play on a chopper, spun and flipped to second baseman Justin Beck for the fielder's choice putout. A strikeout ended the inning.
Redshirt sophomore catcher Nick Kitzmann beat out an infield single on an 0-2 offering to open the home fifth as the Gator shortstop waited on the ball, with nothing coming of that. Leading off the eighth, Beck fought back from an 0-2 hole to work the count full, and then dumped an opposite-field single in front of the leftfielder. A 6-4-3 double play followed, however, and though the Tritons still managed to load the bases with two gone on a single, a hit-by-pitch and a walk, Crone got Eliopulos to fly out sharply to right field to kill that threat.
UC San Diego and San Francisco State continue their four-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 17. First pitch at Triton Ballpark on East Campus in La Jolla is set for 1 p.m. The nightcap will be of the shortened seven-inning variety, with about a 40-minute break in between the contests. Parking is free. Those unable to attend can watch all day in high definition on UCSDtritons.tv for a fee of $5.99.
Triton Notes: Rj Prince's pinch-hit, infield single in the bottom of the ninth marked his first hit as a Triton ... UC San Diego has surrendered the first run in each of its first six games so far in 2018.
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