“We talked about how we could play our best baseball at the end of the year and make some noise in this thing,” UCSD head coach Eric Newman said. “We felt like we kind of gave it away at the end of the regular season, but it was good to come out and show everyone that we are a team to be reckoned with.”
The UCSD Baseball team won its fourth straight CCAA regular season title and tournament title this weekend, May 10 to 12 at Triton Ballpark.
Seven Tritons were named to the All-CCAA Tournament team: senior pitcher Greg Selarz, freshman catcher Brett Levy, sophomore shortstop Garrett Tuck, junior third baseman Sam Michaels, sophomore outfielder Scott Liske, junior outfielder Danny Susdorf and designated hitter sophomore Nick La Face.
Going 3-1 this weekend, UCSD entered the tournament with the top-seed and outclassed CCAA opponents, second-seed Chico State and third-seed Sonoma State to take the tournament title. With the conference win, UCSD also claimed the automatic bid into the CCAA tournament.
It was announced Sunday, May 13 that UCSD will face Dixie State on the campus of Dixie State in the West Regional round.
GAME 1
The Triton rotation allowed the Seawolves just four hits in their CCAA tournament opener. Triton Trevor Scott (5-5) recorded the win, notching eight strikeouts while allowing just three hits in his 5.1 innings.
The Tritons went up 4-0 off a three-run fourth inning, as UCSD took an early lead and maintained the gap down the stretch. UCSD hit up the Seawolves’ Glen Wallace for four hits, three doubles from Nick La Face, Scott Liske and Sam Michaels.
UCSD picked up two more doubles in the sixth and seventh innings to secure the 6-0 win.
GAME 2
Junior All-CCAA first team selection Ryan Goodbrand (10-0) allowed second-seed Chico State just one hit, while a grand slam from Liske in the bottom of the seventh inning put the game away for first-seed UCSD.
First baseman Richard Siegel and catcher Brett Levy both tallied three hits in the campaign.
GAME 3
The Seawolves used a five run fourth inning, as second baseman Jackson Stogner homered for three RBI.
Up 6-1, the Seawolves may have put their relief in a little too early, as Glen Wallace walked his first two batters — Liske and Michaels. The two were moved over to third and second respectively. Susdorf singled to rightfield to bat in Liske. The Seawolves overthrew first as Susdorf advanced to second and Michaels scored.
UCSD tied the game in the top of the eighth inning, as the Seawolves replaced Wallace with relief Taylor Herbert. Herbert walked La Face and Rahn and hit Liske to load the bases. Next up Michaels scored La Face and Rahn. Liske was brought home on a popfly from Frazier.
The Seawolves pushed for a fourth game in the bottom of the eighth, after senior submariner Elias Tuma loaded the bases, and gave up a double for two RBI.
GAME 4
In the Tritons’ fourth game — Sonoma’s fifth game in three days — fatigue figured in the Seawolf bullpen, as Sonoma exhausted their best arms early in the tournament to stave off elimination.
“We just kept pounding away and I was just as proud of the way we finished the first game as I am of how we finished the second game,” Newman said. “We were going to keep fighting, we weren’t going to stay down, we weren’t going to quit. And I think to some degree we may have won the second game in the first game, coming back 6-1 tieing in the seventh.”
The Seawolves went up early on a two run homerun.
The Tritons overtook the lead in the bottom of the first inning as sophomore first team selection Garrett Tuck singled to centerfield, batting in Susdorf and Siegel. Sonoma pitcher Joey Van Cleave gave up two more bases to score Siegle, while Liske popped out to score Tuck. UCSD went
up two more in the fifth inning off a La Face double, one of three in the tournament.
Up 6-2, junior lefthander Richard Kilbury and senior Tony York closed out the win, collectively allowing just one hit in their last two innings.
