Baseball 4/21/2018 6:00:00 PM UCSD

Tritons Wallop Coyotes to Sweep Doubleheader, Complete Emphatic Series Sweep for Second Straight Week

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - The University of California San Diego thumped Cal State San Bernardino to the tune of 38 runs on 37 hits, nine of them home runs, and 21 walks, in posting a resounding sweep of a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) baseball doubleheader on Saturday at Fiscalini Field. Game scores were 26-8 and 13-2 in the seven-inning nightcap, as the Tritons completed a four-game series sweep for the second week in a row.

Now a winner of a season-best eight in a row, UC San Diego improved to 28-13 overall and 24-12 in the CCAA. Cal State San Bernardino dropped to 11-31 overall and 11-25 in league play. The Tritons had taken the first two meetings in La Jolla, 12-1 and 19-0 on Thursday and Friday night, respectively. All told, they outscored the Coyotes 69-12, with 16 doubles, one triple and 13 home runs among 64 hits. UCSD also benefitted from a total of 41 bases on balls.

UC San Diego remains alone in second in the CCAA standings, still 1.5 games behind No. 22 Cal State Monterey Bay (31-10, 25-10 CCAA), which also swept a Saturday doubleheader on the road, at Sonoma State. The Tritons maintain a 2.5-game cushion over third-place rival Chico State, another victor of both ends of a twin bill.

UC San Diego goes right into another split-venue four-gamer with fourth-place Cal State LA (22-17, 19-15 CCAA). The teams will first meet twice in La Jolla on Thursday, April 26, and Friday, April 27. Both first pitches are set for 6 p.m. at Triton Ballpark.

Game One - UCSD 26, CSUSB 8
UC San Diego collected season highs of 26 runs, 23 hits (tied), six home runs (tied) and 17 walks. The Tritons batted around, spots one through nine, in a pair of three-run frames in the third and fourth, to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 6-1 bulge. They then sent 13 to the plate in an eight-run fifth to put the result out of any doubt, before tacking on three more on two home runs, of their six, in the sixth.

All nine Triton starters had at least one hit, one run and RBI in the contest. Eleven players drove in a run, and 14 crossed the plate with a run or more.

UC San Diego loaded the bases in the initial frame on a pair of one-out walks around a double to left center by Zander Clarke. Blake Baumgartner grounded into a first-pitch, 6-4-3 double play, however, as the Coyotes kept the Tritons off the board.

CSUSB opened its first turn with successive singles. Tyler Robles fouled off four two-strike offerings before sending an RBI double down the left field line, and three batters in, it was 1-0 in favor of the home side after the Coyotes had managed just a solitary run in 18 innings in La Jolla the previous two nights. Senior right-hander Jack Rupe, Jr. (San Marcos/Mission Hills HS), registered two swinging strikeouts and a flyout from there to strand two in scoring position and limit the damage to one.

The Coyotes began their second with a base hit again, but Rupe notched his third strikeout of the early going, and then dialed up a 4-6-3 double play.

That zero set up the top of the order for the Tritons in the third, and Tyler Durna promptly deposited his sixth home run of the season over the wall in right center with one gone, to knot the score. The blast came on the first strike that Durna saw on the day after five balls.

UC San Diego went on to load the bases on successive walks to Clarke and Alex Eliopulos (La Jolla/La Jolla HS), and an immediate hit-by-pitch to Baumgartner. Keenan Brigman's first-pitch single up the middle gave the visitors the lead, and Justin Beck's sacrifice fly made it 3-1.

Rupe worked around a one-out single to register the shutdown third, and having rolled back around to the top of the order, Shay Whitcomb led off the fourth by launching a 1-0 toss out to left field. It was the freshman shortstop's second home run of the year, and gave his side a 4-1 advantage. The Tritons filled the bags again, all with two away, on a pair of walks around a Baumgartner single. Beck was plunked with a 2-2 toss to force in the fifth run, ahead of an RBI infield single by Nick Kitzmann.

The Tritons put up the eight-spot in the fifth, loading the bases with no outs on a leadoff Whitcomb single and walks to Durna and Clarke. Eliopulos then also drew a four-pitch free pass, UCSD's 10th of the afternoon, to force in Whitcomb for his 50th RBI. Baumgartner's sacrifice fly, Brigman's RBI single and Beck's opposite-field, two-run double into the gap in left center, offered up an 11-1 score line. Redshirt freshman centerfielder Brandon Stewart, who had been put out to end each of the previous two frames with the bases full, then produced his first collegiate home run for 13-1.

The inning still wasn't over, as Whitcomb walked on four, Durna singled, and Clarke provided his team-best 52nd RBI with a single to center.

The Tritons added three tallies in the sixth on two more home runs. Baumgartner led off with his third to left. After a one-out Beck single, Kitzmann hit his fifth, also to left. Five more runs came in the eighth. Bases full again, Rj Prince drew a walk, and Steven Schuknecht followed with an RBI fielder's choice. Eliopulos walked for the fifth time, and Baumgartner cleared the bases with an opposite-field double to right center.

UC San Diego loaded the bases yet again in the ninth, and Schuknecht provided, incredibly, a sixth grand slam by a Triton in this 2018 campaign, opposite field to left. It was his fourth on the year and second of the series.

Rupe (3-2), went 6.0 innings and allowed four runs on seven hits, one walk and a hit-by-pitch, striking out six. He navigated around a one-out single in the fourth as well, for his second straight shutdown frame, as Kitzmann fired to Durna to pick the Coyote runner off first base for the third out. Rupe's only perfect frame came in the fifth.

Redshirt freshman Antonio Barrios handled the seventh, eighth and ninth for his first collegiate save. The right-hander struck out two.

Eliopulos wound up 1-for-2 with six walks, which is a single-game record for at least the Tritons' NCAA Division II era since 2001, if not all-time. He scored a career-high four runs, and drove in one. Durna was 2-for-3 with the home run, two walks, two runs and an RBI.

Baumgartner and Schuknecht knocked in five apiece, of course the career high for both, with Baumgartner having entered the contest with nine RBI on the season. Baumgartner was 4-for-6 with a double, home run, hit-by-pitch, sacrifice fly and two runs. Beck went 2-for-4 with a double, walk, hit-by-pitch, sacrifice fly, three runs and four RBI. Whitcomb, Kyle Selor, Clarke, Brigman, Kitzmann and Aaron Kim registered two hits apiece. Kitzmann drove in three, while Brigman and Stewart had two each.

After walking a season-high 11 times on Friday night, UC San Diego improved on that with 17.

Senior right-hander Garret Christiansen (0-2) gave up six runs on six hits, seven walks and three hit-by-pitches over four complete. He struck out three.

Alec Ceniceros hit two late home runs to increase his team-leading total to seven. His three-run shot came in the sixth after a one-out walk and hit-by-pitch. The junior added a solo effort with one gone in the eighth. Tyler Robles managed a three-run shot of his own, his fourth, with two outs in the ninth. Gabe Chavez went 2-for-5.

Game Two - UCSD 12, CSUSB 3 (7)
The Tritons scored in each of the first three innings and led 4-2. They were up 2-0 almost immediately as Whitcomb drew a seven-pitch walk and Durna smacked his second home run of the day, and seventh of the season, to the opposite field in left.

CSUSB halved the deficit in the home half. An infield single on junior right-hander Jonah Dipoto's first offering preceded back-to-back right-sided groundouts that put Ty Lineberger at third. Ceniceros' first-pitch single to left plated him.

The teams traded leadoff home runs in the second, with Beck getting his second of the series, and Garrett Ouellette answering for the Coyotes with his second of 2018.

One-out singles by Clarke and Eliopulos got the Tritons going in the third. Clarke was cut down, but with two away and men at second and third, Brigman pulled a two-out RBI single through the left side for a 4-2 edge.

UC San Diego added three runs in the fifth, putting the leadoff man on for the second straight frame, and converting on this opportunity. Eliopulos and Brigman singled around a flyout, and Beck doubled to center for 5-2. Down 1-2 in the count, senior catcher Michael Palos lifted an opposite-field sacrifice fly. Stewart then worked the count full and came up with the big two-out RBI single to pick up Beck from third.

CSUSB got one back in the fifth, but it could have been worse. Dipoto hit the leadoff batter, punched out Chavez, and walked Robles. Fellow junior right-hander Kyle Lucke took over and walked Ceniceros before getting a shallow flyout that was not deep enough to score the run from third. A passed ball was credited to do that, but Lucke got another flyout to hold a 7-3 advantage steady.

Cameron Kurz (Encinitas/La Costa Canyon HS) made his series debut to open the sixth, and what a performance it was to cap an incredibly long day that saw the final out recorded more than seven and a half hours after the first pitch. The senior flamethrower struck out all six batters he faced, four of them swinging. Kurz needed 11 pitches to mow down the Coyotes in the sixth, and another 17 in the seventh. Nineteen of those 28 pitches went for strikes.

Between Kurz's heroics, the Tritons really broke it open with a five-run eighth. Beck homered for the second time in the game, third in the series and fifth on the year to right after a leadoff Brigman walk. That was before a Palos walk, Stewart double, Whitcomb flyout, RBI Durna groundout, two-out hit-by-pitch to Clarke, and finally, a two-run triple to right center by Eliopulos. It was his first as a Triton, and the team's first of the weekend. They lead the CCAA with 12 triples.

Dipoto (4-3) gave up three runs, two of them earned, on six hits, three walks and a hit-by-pitch over 4.1 frames. He struck out two.

Beck finished 3-for-4 with two home runs, a double, three runs and four RBI. Eliopulos was 3-for-5 with a triple, two runs and two RBI, and Durna 1-for-4 with a home run, hit-by-pitch, run and three RBI. Brigman and Stewart had two hits apiece.

Konner Arnold (6-2) went 6.0 frames. The senior right-hander surrendered nine runs, eight of them earned, on 12 hits, three walks and two hit-by-pitches, fanning two.

Triton Notes: Alex Eliopulos is the only Triton to start or appear in all 41 games ... Justin Beck extended his current team-best reached-base streak to 27 contests with a fourth-inning hit-by-pitch in the first game, and second-inning home run in the nightcap ... The Tritons have scored at least nine runs in seven consecutive games ... Nine more home runs on the day increased UCSD's CCAA-best total to 51 ... UCSD hit five more doubles, giving it 32 over the last eight contests ... With a home run in each game, Tyler Durna has matched his seven from a year ago, and has 14 for his career ... Beck had a double in each game and has nine on the season ... Beck went 9-for-15 (.600) in the series and improved his average by 42 points, from .280 to a season-high .322, while scoring 10 runs and driving in 13, both team bests ... The Tritons as a team have taken the CCAA lead with a .309 batting average ... UCSD has reached double figures in runs 15 times in 2018 ... The Tritons have scored 10 or more runs in four straight contests for the first time since Feb. 21-28, 2008, with the first three of those games also against CSUSB ... UC San Diego's 69 runs are its most in a four-game series at least for its D-II era, and the same for its three-game total of 57 to begin the set, the latter total eclipsing the 55 against CSUSB to open last year's matchup ... Game One: Jack Rupe, Jr., earned his eighth start, and fourth in a row since rejoining the rotation ... Zander Clarke was back in right field after missing two games through injury, pinch-hitting in one, and starting as the designated hitter the first two games of this series ... Clarke's first-inning double was his ninth ... Blake Baumgartner's third-inning hit-by-pitch was the first of his college career ... Nick Kitzmann's third-inning hit-by-pitch was his team-best 16th ... Kitzmann's pickoff to end the fourth was his second ... Antonio Barrios' effort marked a sixth save by a Triton this season of 3.0 innings or more ... UCSD reached double figures in walks drawn for the second time in the series and fifth on the year ... The eight-run fifth matched the Tritons' largest frame of the year, from the sixth inning of the 25-2 home win over Cal State East Bay on March 29 ... UC San Diego has produced 20-plus runs in a game against CSUSB in each of the past three years ... The six home runs equal UC San Diego's single-game record for at least the NCAA Division II era (since 2001), as UC San Diego had previously hit six in the March 29 romp over East Bay, and a 14-7 win at Cal State San Bernardino on April 2, 2010 ... The 26 runs also equal the program standard for Division II days, going back to a 26-5 rout in the seven-inning doubleheader nightcap at Cal State Monterey Bay on April 15, 2007 ... UCSD had not drawn more than 12 walks in any game going back at least through the 2013 campaign ... Game Two: Jonah Dipoto made his 10th appearance, all starts to share the team high with fellow junior Preston Mott ... Michael Palos' second-inning caught stealing was his third in seven attempts ... Brandon Stewart's fifth-inning steal was his team-best seventh on seven tries.