SEASIDE, Calif. - The University of California San Diego outlasted No. 23 Cal State Monterey Bay, 7-6 in 10 innings, in a drama-filled game one of a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) baseball doubleheader at the Otter Sports Complex on Monday. The home side notched a fifth-inning grand slam to take the shortened seven-inning nightcap, 8-4, as the teams split the day, and the four-game series.
With the results, UC San Diego moved to 16-9 overall and 12-8 in the CCAA. Cal State Monterey Bay is 19-7 overall and 13-7 in league play. The Tritons are left exactly where they were at the start of last week, in third, one game back of the Otters and Cal State LA (16-9, 13-7). They are tied with Cal Poly Pomona (15-11, 12-8). In Sunday action, UCSD also grabbed game one, 14-7, with CSUMB taking the nightcap, 12-7.
The Tritons return to La Jolla late Monday night, and have a short week ahead during their Spring Break, as they will finally be back in front of the home crowd in a four-game series against Cal State East Bay beginning in primetime on Thursday night, March 29. First pitch at Triton Ballpark is set for 6 p.m.
Game One - UCSD 7, No. 23 CSUMB 6 (10)
Both teams got a two-out base-runner in the second inning who then advanced to second, but neither side could get that player home.
The Tritons got back-to-back one-out singles from the top of their order in the third, by freshman shortstop Shay Whitcomb and junior first baseman Tyler Durna, pulled through the left and right side, respectively. Junior rightfielder Zander Clarke then fouled off a pair of 3-2 offerings from junior right-hander Levi Noddin before depositing his third home run in as many games of this series, over the wall in left center for a 3-0 lead. It was his seventh long ball on the season.
The Otters got one of those runs right back in the home half, getting a one-out Ruben Gonzalez single and RBI TJ Dove triple deep to center. Dove had fouled off the first two pitches before working the count full. Junior right-hander Jonah Dipoto did well to keep the junior centerfielder at third, however, getting a quick comebacker before another groundout to Whitcomb.
UCSD threatened a two-out rally in the fourth, with consecutive singles by Brandon Stewart and Whitcomb putting men at the corners. CSUMB went to the bullpen early, and A.J. Banuelos needed a solitary pitch to get Durna to ground out to second base.
CSUMB likewise put runners on and came up empty in the home fourth, loading the bases on a leadoff walk to Jacob Tonascia, two-out Tano Garza single and ensuing walk to Nicholas Napoli. Dipoto came up big, getting Gonzalez to pop up.
Dipoto walked Dove to open the Otter fifth. After Max Sanderson flew out hard to center, Myles Hager drove the first pitch of his at-bat into center for a single. Dipoto fanned the CCAA's RBI leader, Tonascia, but walked Kyle Czaplak on four pitches to bring up the league's top home run hitter in Hayden Duer. Duer flew out to right as the home team left the bases loaded for the second straight inning.
The Otters continued to put runners on base in the sixth and finally cashed them in. A walk and first-pitch infield single led things off, and Gonzalez got the bunt down on an 0-2 toss by new pitcher, Jack Rupe, Jr. Dove then also singled on the infield, with Napoli following Jordan Esposo all the way around from second to tie the game, 3-3. Rupe, Jr., struck out the next two hitters, around a Dove steal, to keep it that way.
Banuelos, a senior right-hander, had retired the first eight batters he faced, with seven of them on the infield through five groundouts and two popouts, when Whitcomb pulled a fourth straight single to left, and third in a row through the left side, to break that hex. Durna followed with a walk, and after a second Otter pitching change, Clarke drew a free pass of his own to fill the bags. Speaking of hexes, redshirt junior third baseman Alex Eliopulos (La Jolla/La Jolla HS) picked the perfect moment to end an 0-for-16 stretch, working the count full and going opposite field for a two-run single to left center. Nick Kitzmann's team-best 11th hit-by-pitch loaded the bases again for the visitors and triggered another mound switch. An RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Justin Beck made it 6-3 in favor of UC San Diego before the inning was over.
The Otters wasted little time to get two of those runs back, as with the meat of their order due up, Tonascia blasted his eighth on the year out to right center on the second pitch of the home seventh, for 6-4. Czaplak and Duer followed with singles. For the second straight frame, Rupe, Jr., responded to some early adversity with successive strikeouts, but this time, No. 9 batter Gonzalez then singled up the middle for 6-5. Blaine Jarvis took over and got Dove to hit into a fielder's choice.
Senior pinch-hitter Jesse Moore drew a leadoff walk in the eighth and was sacrificed over immediately by Stewart. Freshman Noah Conlon went in to run for Moore, and advanced to third on a passed ball, but Whitcomb was finally retired for the first time, going up 3-0 in the count before striking out swinging, and Durna flew out.
Jarvis plunked Hager after a first-pitch groundout in the eighth, before starting a huge 1-4-3 double play off the bat of Tonascia to get out of the inning.
UC San Diego was unable to hold the one-run edge in the ninth. Redshirt junior right-handed closer Cameron Kurz (Encinitas/La Costa Canyon HS) got Czaplak to ground out, but Duer reached on an error by Eliopulos, as his throw short-hopped Durna and pulled him off the bag. Esposo walked on four tosses ahead of a fielder's choice groundout by Napoli that cut Duer down at third. Gonzalez was hit with a 2-1 offering, and with the bags full, a 1-2 throw to Dove went into the dirt for a wild pitch that sent Esposo sprinting home from third with the unearned tying run. With the count full, Kurz froze Dove with a called third strike to extend the contest into extra innings.
Beck opened the 10th with a double, his third on the year, down the right field line. Keenan Brigman was unable to get the bunt down, but a balk by Jeffrey Ahern made up for it as Beck scooted to third. Redshirt freshman Blake Baumgartner then came up with the pinch-hit, RBI single to left center.
The bottom of the 10th was still not without considerable tension. Sanderson was safe on another infield throwing error, but tried for an extra base, and was cut down at second. Kurz hit Hager with his very next pitch, before getting Tonascia to line out to Clarke in right. Kitzmann then fired to Beck to catch Hager trying to steal, for the final out of the game. Both outs registered at second were close and contested.
That made a winner out of Kurz (2-0). Ahern (1-1) took the loss for the Otters.
Dipoto gave up one run on four hits and five walks over 5.0 innings. He struck out two.
Clarke went 1-for-4 with the home run, walk, two runs, three RBI and a stolen base. Whitcomb was 4-for-6 for his first collegiate four-hit game, with two runs. Durna and Eliopulos, like Clarke, each finished 1-for-4 with a walk. Durna scored twice and Elipoulos had the two RBI.
Brigman, a redshirt sophomore leftfielder, made a diving grab toward the gap in left center of a hard liner to rob Dove of extra bases in the first.
Noddin went just 3.2 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits and one walk. He struck out three.
Game Two - No. 23 CSUMB 8, UCSD 4 (7)
CSUMB loaded the bases with one out in its very first turn on a pair of walks around a single and strikeout. Czaplak's two-run single and Duer's RBI single gave the hosts the early 3-0 lead before two ground balls got starter Mitch Hickey out of it.
UCSD used a leadoff walk to move runners to the corners with two gone in the second, but could not cut into the deficit.
In the third, Eliopulos came up with a man at second and two outs for his second straight at-bat. Having grounded out in the first, he launched a two-run home run to right this time around, to pull the Tritons within a run at 3-2. The blast also regained him a share of the CCAA lead with Duer at nine each, albeit temporarily. It came after Clarke had singled up the middle with two gone and advanced on a wild pitch.
UC San Diego took its first lead in the fifth as Brigman singled to lead off from the nine hole, and after a Whitcomb flyout, Durna sent a 2-2 pitch deep to right, a no-doubter for his second home run of 2018, and a 4-3 edge.
The excitement was short-lived, as Hickey for the third time in his five frames, walked the leadoff man, and at the back end, Duer crushed a one-out, first-pitch grand slam to center to put the hosts right back in command with a three-run cushion, at 7-4. In addition to giving Duer sole possession again of the CCAA home run lead, it was a sixth career blast for the senior against UCSD, including two in this series, and second grand slam of this four-game set for the Otters, coming in their two wins.
Tonascia's second home run of the day, to center with two gone, capped the scoring in the sixth.
Hickey (2-3) went 4.1 innings and gave up seven runs on six hits and seven walks. The senior right-hander struck out four. He cleaned up a second straight leadoff walk in the second with a flyout and a 6-3 double play. Hickey finally retired the leadoff man for the first time and went on to turn in a shutdown third around a one-out single.
Durna and Eliopulos both went 1-for-3 with a home run, run and two RBI. Brigman made another terrific, diving catch in the gap in left center to deny Gonzalez extra bases for the first out in the fourth.
Sophomore left-hander Ethan McRae (3-0) allowed four runs on six hits and two walks over 5.0 innings, with four strikeouts. Sophomore right-hander Connor Fabing retired all six Tritons he faced in the sixth and seventh, three on called third strikes, to earn his third save.
Triton Notes: Alex Eliopulos and Zander Clarke are the only two Tritons to start all 25 games ... Shay Whitcomb's leadoff singles in the first inning of both games extended his team-best reached-base streak, as he has started his college career by getting on base in each of his first 24 contests ... With three home runs each on the day, the Tritons and Otters remain tied atop the CCAA in that category at 26 apiece ... UCSD pitching was able to retire the Otters in order just once in 16 frames on the day, in the first inning of game one, and in four of 33 in the series ... UC San Diego wrapped up this season-long 10-game road stretch with a 6-4 record, and is 8-5 away from home in 2018 ... The Tritons have still not lost a series this year, with two 3-1 wins and three 2-2 splits in CCAA sets, after a three-game sweep and two-game split in non-conference play ... Nick Kitzmann threw out his fourth would-be base-stealer on nine attempts, to end the game ... Game One: Zander Clarke was credited with his first stolen base as a Triton in the seventh ... Brandon Stewart's eighth-inning sacrifice was his second ... Freshman right-handed pitcher Noah Conlon appeared as a pinch-runner for the first time, in the eighth ... Game Two: Jesse Moore, who had started four times this season, all as the designated hitter, started in left field.
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