The Tritons have won the past three conference titles, and will go into the 2012 tournament with the first-seed. Their first match-up will be against fourth-seed Sonoma State this Thursday, May 12 at 7 p.m. The match will follow the game pitting second-seed Chico State against third-seed No. 3 CSU San Bernardino, to be played at 3 p.m.

Going into the CCAA tournament, UCSD may have the home field advantage, but unlike years past, the Tritons had to settle for sharing the CCAA title. In 2009 — only the second time UCSD captured a conference title — the Tritons went 27–9 in conference to win the regular season title as well as the tournament title. The following year, UCSD improved its record to 35–5 and in 2011 UCSD went 29–11.

The nationally unranked Tritons may not have met the high water mark set in the past few years, but the UCSD roster is still stacked with talent. It was announced yesterday, May 9, that eight Tritons collected All-CCAA honors. Junior Danny Susdor, sophomore Garrett Tuck, junior pitcher Ryan Goodbrand and senior pitcher Tony York were all named to the CCAA first team. Senior Gregg Ringold was named to the CCAA second team, while junior Spencer Frazier, sophomore Justin Rahn and junior Richard Siegel all garnered honorable mention.

In his first year as head coach, Eric Newman was named the CCAA Coach of the Year.

Junior centerfielder Susdorf — a transfer from Division-I University of San Diego — leads the team in slugging percentage (.560) and currently holds the program record for career triples (14).

Susdorf bats in the lead-off spot, followed by junior first baseman Richard Siegel, sophomore shortstop Garrett Tuck and sophomore utility Nick La Face. The four have proved very effective in the box for the Tritons.

The Triton rotation also seems to have hit their stride going into the tournament. Junior starter Ryan Goodbrand (7–0) has notched 44 strikeouts, and allowed only 23 runs in his 65.2 innings pitched. Senior Tony York leads the bullpen with the lowest ERA (1.27). He has appeared in the most games out of any Triton pitcher behind fellow closer Elias Tuma.

On Thursday, the Tritons will face CCAA pitcher of the week, Sonoma ace Thomas Lee. Last week Lee went the distance against CSU Monterey Bay, pitching the first shutout of his career.

The last time the two squads met was back in the beginning of April, when the Tritons swept the Seawolves in four games.