LA JOLLA, Calif. - The University of California San Diego broke things open with back-to-back six-run frames in the third and fourth, and got a two-hit combined shutout on the mound from Preston Mott and Ted Stuka for good measure, in blanking Cal State San Bernardino, 19-0, at Triton Ballpark on Friday night.
The result meant the sweep of a six-game homestand for UC San Diego, which also then extended its season-best win streak to six. The Tritons are now 26-13 overall and 22-12 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Cal State San Bernardino fell to 11-29 overall and 11-23 in league play. UCSD takes a 2-0 series lead, having taken Thursday night's opener at home as well, 12-1.
Every CCAA team was in action on Friday, and with the four sides directly behind UC San Diego all losing, including Chico State and Cal State LA at home at night to squads in the bottom three, the Tritons greatly strengthened their grip on second place. Cal State Monterey Bay (29-10, 23-10 CCAA) did win 11-2 at Sonoma State in the afternoon, however, so UC San Diego remains 1.5 games behind the first-place Otters.
The shutout was UC San Diego's first of 2018. The Tritons produced 17 hits, including eight more doubles to match their season high, and drew a season-best 11 walks.
Mott (6-1), a junior left-hander, equaled the longest outing of his season and career, allowing just a one-out single in the fourth while striking out eight over seven complete. The Clovis product retired the first 10 Coyotes in order before an opposite-field Gabe Chavez single to right. Mott also posted a perfect sixth. Around that frame, he only had two other base-runners against him, one each in the fifth and seventh, on one-out infield throwing errors that pulled Tyler Durna off the bag.
Mott and sophomore right-hander Ted Stuka did not walk a single batter. Stuka went the final two innings and gave up just a two-out single in the ninth, fanning one.
Offensively, senior second baseman Justin Beck got things rolling by smacking his third home run, a two-run shot, to right in the second after a single by Keenan Brigman on the first pitch of the inning. The frame actually began with three consecutive hits in all, but a 4-6-3 double play limited the Coyotes' damage.
Eleven Tritons batted in the third, with four hits, three walks and a hit-by-pitch. They loaded the bases with no outs on walks to Durna and Alex Eliopulos (La Jolla/La Jolla HS), around a hit-by-pitch to Zander Clarke. Junior leftfielder Rj Prince then doubled into the left field corner to double the advantage to 4-0. That preceded an RBI groundout by Brigman, Beck single, a roped RBI double to left by catcher Michael Palos, and with two away, a two-run Shay Whitcomb double down the left field line.
UC San Diego sent 10 more to the dish against a new arm in the fourth as starter Blake Timm (1-6) exited. Eliopulos belted a double into the gap in right center for openers. Successive singles by Prince and Brigman loaded the bases ahead of Beck's first-pitch, two-run double to right. Brandon Stewart lined out for a sacrifice fly, Beck sprinted home on a wild pitch, Durna came up with an RBI groundout, and Blake Baumgartner sent a pinch-hit, two-out, RBI single up the middle to make it 14-0.
The Tritons batted around one final time in a five-run seventh. Baumgartner and senior pinch-hitter Jesse Moore led off with back-to-back walks. Prince, who had already hit the two-run double down the left field line, this time managed an opposite-field RBI double down the right field line. Another pinch-hitter, Kyle Selor, added an RBI groundout, and with the bags full again following a pinch-hit walk by Aaron Kim, Stewart cleared them with a three-run double into the left field corner.
UCSD had the bases full with no outs in the third, fourth, seventh and eighth.
Prince finished 4-for-6 with two doubles, which marked his first extra-base hits as a Triton, three runs and three RBI. Beck wound up 3-for-4 with his home run, double, three runs and four RBI. The hits, runs and RBI were season highs for both first-year transfers. Stewart was 1-for-4 with his double, sacrifice fly and career-high four RBI.
Whitcomb was 2-for-5 with a double, walk, run scored and two RBI, Durna walked three more times, Brigman went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, and Palos was 2-for-3 with a double, walk, two runs and one RBI. Baumgartner reached base in all three trips to the plate off the bench, going 2-for-2 with a double, walk, run and RBI. Eliopulos went 1-for-2 with a double, two walks and two runs.
Durna made a great stretch on Whitcomb's throw for the second out in the fifth.
The four-game series now shifts north to San Bernardino for its conclusion on Saturday, April 21. The doubleheader at Fiscalini Field is set for a 1 p.m. start, with the finale of the shortened seven-inning variety.
Triton Notes: Alex Eliopulos is the only Triton to start or appear in all 39 games ... Justin Beck extended his current team-best reached-base streak to 25 games with his two-run home run in the second inning ... The Tritons managed to score 19 runs, 18 of them driven in, with none from Zander Clarke (51) or Alex Eliopulos (49), the CCAA's RBI leaders ... UC San Diego has moved its team batting average up to .300, now second in the league ... The Tritons are hitting .300 or better again for the first time since March 2 ... UCSD hit eight more doubles tonight, to match its season high from just last Saturday, and with a remarkable 27 doubles over the last six contests, is up to third in the CCAA with 76 on the year, seven back of CSUMB ... Triton pitching did not issue a walk for the second time this season, both coming over the past four games ... UC San Diego reached double figures in walks drawn for the fourth time ... Clarke's nine-game hit streak was snapped, as he went 0-for-2 with a hit-by-pitch in three plate appearances before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the fourth ... UCSD reached double figures in runs for the 13th time in 2018, and has scored at least nine runs in five consecutive games ... Preston Mott made his team-best 10th start on the mound, and has surrendered just three hits over his last two starts and 12.2 innings ... Freshman shortstop Shay Whitcomb had nine assists, a season high for a Triton and most since former second baseman Erik Lewis also had nine against Cal State Dominguez Hills at the CCAA Championship in Stockton on May 9, 2015 ... The assists came on eight 6-3 groundouts and a 6-4 fielder's choice groundout.
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