Baseball 3/25/2018 4:00:00 PM UCSD

Big Innings the Difference as No. 28 UC San Diego and No. 19 Cal State Monterey Bay Split Twin Bill to Begin Series

SEASIDE, Calif. - The No. 28 University of California San Diego baseball team used a seven-run fourth inning to roll past No. 19 Cal State Monterey Bay, 14-7, to open a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) doubleheader, and four-game series, on Sunday at the Otter Sports Complex. The home club returned the favor in the nine-inning nightcap, taking a 12-7 decision behind a seven-run fifth.

With the results, UC San Diego moved to 15-8 overall and 11-7 in the CCAA. Cal State Monterey Bay, a winner of three straight heading in, is 18-6 overall and 12-6 in league play. The Tritons, who started the day in fourth, thus are left in third place, behind the Otters and Cal State LA (16-9, 13-7 CCAA).

UC San Diego's game-one fourth was its most lucrative inning of the season so far, turning a slight 2-1 deficit into an 8-2 bulge. The Tritons benefitted from four errors, 10 walks, five hit-by-pitches and a wild pitch by the Otters for the contest, matching their season high of 14 runs scored.

The big fifth in the second meeting was likewise the largest frame against UCSD in 2018, with the 12 runs given up also a season high. Both games went three-plus hours.

UC San Diego turned a 1-6-3 triple play to get out of the fourth inning of game one, as Preston Mott caught a hard, lined bunt to retire Nicholas Napoli with two on, and then threw to shortstop Shay Whitcomb, who in turn tossed to first baseman Tyler Durna to complete the play. It was the Tritons' first triple play since one of the unassisted lineout variety by former first baseman Richard Seigel during a 4-0 win in the seven-inning nightcap of a doubleheader at San Francisco State on March 18, 2012.

The Tritons and CSUMB will wrap up their four-game set with another 11 a.m. doubleheader at the Otter Sports Complex on Monday, March 26. The series finale is scheduled for a shortened seven innings. Live audio and live stats are available for both contests.

Game One - No. 28 UCSD 14, No. 19 CSUMB 7
Cal State Monterey Bay hit the scoreboard first in the initial frame, through a leadoff TJ Dove single, a sacrifice bunt, and two-out double by CCAA RBI leader Jacob Tonascia that just eluded Triton junior Zander Clarke in the right field corner.

UC San Diego wasted a good chance to tie the game right away, or even go ahead, by taking two outs on the bases in its half of the second. Justin Beck walked and Keenan Brigman singled with one out, but Brigman was cut down trying to advance on a ball in the dirt while Beck moved to third. After a third walk already by Otter starter Gabe Katich, to Nick Kitzmann, the redshirt sophomore catcher was picked off first.

The Tritons tied it in the third. Brandon Stewart was hit by Katich to start it off, and stole second with one away, moments before Durna's second walk in as many plate appearances. After a peculiar infield fly situation that left Durna at second and Alex Eliopulos (La Jolla/La Jolla HS) at first with two gone, Clarke took the first pitch of his at-bat through the left side for an RBI single. A strikeout kept the score at 1-1.

CSUMB went right back in front in the home half, getting a one-out single and first-pitch RBI double to right center by Myles Hager. Mott was able to get the 4-5 hitters, Tonascia and Kyle Czaplak, to fly out to Brigman in center to strand Hager at second.

The Tritons then sent 10 men to the plate and exploded for their seven in the fourth. They loaded the bases on a Beck single, Brigman sacrifice, Kitzmann walk and second successive Stewart hit-by-pitch. Whitcomb, a right-handed batter who was 0-for-2 to that point, dropped an RBI single into right center, and with the Otter centerfielder shading toward right center, Durna followed with a two-run single into center. Whitcomb scored on an infield error, and after a pitching change, Clarke greeted Greg Steinbeck with a three-run blast, his fifth, to left center on a 3-1 offering.

UC San Diego added a pair each in the sixth, eighth and ninth, while CSUMB could only counter with a single tally in the seventh and four in the ninth, the last two of which were unearned through the Tritons' solitary error, a bad throw with the bases full.

Senior Jesse Moore, a second-year transfer who had entered as a pinch-hitter in the fourth and remained in the game as the designated hitter, led off the eighth with a solo shot that just snuck over the wall in left center for his first home run as a Triton.

Mott (4-0) allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks over 6.2 innings. The junior left-hander struck out seven, six of them swinging. Mott turned in the game's first 1-2-3 frame with two groundouts, the latter a comebacker to himself, and his third strikeout, in the fifth. He then fanned the side in order in the sixth, swinging, looking and swinging, to make it seven straight Otters retired.

Clarke was 3-for-5 with his home run, two runs, and four RBI to match his season best. Moore finished 2-for-3 with a home run, double, hit-by-pitch, career-best three runs and an RBI. The runs were his first of 2018. Kitzmann went 2-for-4 with two walks and two runs. Durna was 1-for-3 with a season-high three walks, two runs and two RBI. Beck wound up 2-for-4 with a walk, run and RBI. Whitcomb added two hits.

Katich (3-2) went 3.1 frames and gave up seven runs, six of them earned, on five hits, five walks and two hit-by-pitches. The senior right-hander struck out three.

Game Two - No. 19 CSUMB 12, No. 28 UCSD 7
UC San Diego jumped on senior left-hander Colton Fletcher with its first three batters all reaching the wall. Whitcomb flew out deep to center, Durna doubled to the wall in right, and Clarke hit his second home run of the day, on a line drive to the opposite field and over the fence in right, for a quick 2-0 lead.

Cal State Monterey Bay cut the lead in half in the second on senior Hayden Duer's league-leading ninth home, to left center after Triton starter Kyle Lucke had struck out Tonascia and Czaplak swinging back-to-back. It was Duer's fifth career long ball against UCSD, and broke the tie atop the CCAA leaderboard with Eliopulos.

Hager's two-run double to right center gave the Otters their first lead of the contest in the third, after a one-out infield single and a walk. Still with men at the corners, Lucke was able to curb the damage by getting Duer to ground into a fielder's choice.

CSUMB added to its lead in the fourth as Napoli doubled with one away, and after a walk, ran aggressively and came all the way around to score on a fielder's choice groundout when the Tritons were unable to turn the double play on Dove.

UCSD leveled matters again in the fifth. Rj Prince singled through the left side to lead off, and Stewart sent an opposite-field double just inside the right field line. Whitcomb then came through with a double of his own on Fletcher's very next offering, to tie the score at 4-4. The Tritons threatened for more as Durna flied out while moving Whitcomb to third, and Clarke was walked intentionally, but Eliopulos was unable to get that go-ahead run home, striking out swinging. Moore walked to fill the bags, but Brigman followed suit by waving at strike three.

The Otters took their lead right back in the home half. Back-to-back one-out walks preceded a pitching change, and after a walk to Duer to load the bases, junior DH Tano Garza cleared them with a first-pitch grand slam to right center. The home side would go on to add three more, sending 13 men to the plate and notching six hits.

CSUMB scored one more in the sixth. UCSD loaded the bases in the seventh and got a pinch-hit, two-run double to left center by Steven Schuknecht. The Tritons filled the bags again in the ninth, with nobody out, but could only muster a Beck walk before two strikeouts and a groundout ended the drama.

Lucke (0-1) went 4.1 innings and gave up six runs on four hits and career-high six walks, striking out four. The junior right-hander, making just his second start of 2018, retired the Otters in order in a shutdown first. It was UCSD's only perfect frame.

Clarke went 1-for-3 with a home run, two walks, two RBI and a season-high three runs. He and Durna accounted for five of the Tritons' seven runs. Schuknecht was 2-for-2 with his second double and two RBI. Whitcomb also drove in a pair.

Fletcher (5-1) allowed six runs, five of them earned, on five hits and four walks in 6.1 frames. He struck out eight. Fletcher fanned the side, all swinging, around a one-out infield error in the third, and set the Tritons down in order in the fourth on a strikeout and two groundouts. He then also followed his side's big fifth with a 1-2-3 shutdown sixth on a groundout and a pair of swinging strikeouts.

Triton Notes: Alex Eliopulos and Zander Clarke are the only two Tritons to start all 23 games ... Shay Whitcomb's RBI single in the fourth inning of game one, and his two-run double in the fifth inning of the nightcap, extended his team-best reached-base streak, as he has started his college career by getting on base in each of his first 22 contests ... With three home runs on the day to the Otters' two, the Tritons are now tied with CSUMB atop the CCAA in the category, at 23 long balls each ... Game One: Aaron Kim drew his first start since the first game of the Feb. 24 doubleheader at Cal State Dominguez Hills ... Brandon Stewart's third-inning stolen base was his team-leading fifth, now a perfect five-for-five on the season ... Keenan Brigman's fourth-inning sacrifice was his second ... Stewart's two hit-by-pitches give him six on the year ... The seven-run fourth was UCSD's largest of 2018 after a trio of six-run frames ... UCSD produced double-figure runs for the seventh time this season, and first in March, having last done so in a 10-7 win to begin the doubleheader at CSUDH on Feb. 24 ... The home run and double by Jesse Moore off the bench marked the senior's first two extra-base hits this year ... Freshman Garett Lake made his first plate appearance since the home opener on Feb. 9, and like that one, drew a pinch-hit, ninth-inning walk ... Christopher Schasteen's ninth-inning RBI on the bases-loaded walk marked his first RBI as a Triton ... Game Two: UCSD had started six straight games with Whitcomb, Tyler Durna, Eliopulos and Clarke in the lineup, in that order, before switching Eliopulos and Clarke for the nightcap ... Durna's first-inning double was his team-best fifth ... Stewart's fifth-inning double was the first extra-base hit of his college career ... Whitcomb's double in the fifth was also his fifth to move him back into a tie with Durna ... UCSD surrendered double-digit runs for only the second time in 2018, the other an 11-1 loss to Colorado Mesa in its home opener back on Feb. 9.