Rain wiped out what was to be the second half of a four-game series, Saturday’s UCSD-Cal State Los Angeles doubleheader, and maybe it was just as well. The Tritons lost the first half of the series at Reeder Field in Los Angeles.
The Tritons dropped Friday’s first game 9-4. The Golden Eagles’ Chris Johnson pitched seven innings and got the win to bring his record to 5-1 for the year.
UCSD starting pitcher John Beaven struck out six batters and walked four. Beaven gave up all nine runs, only two earned, and took the loss. His record this year is now 3-6.
After two innings the Tritons were already down 7-1. The Tritons made six errors, four of them in the first two innings. Shortstop Tyler Sullivan and first baseman Eric Thorpe each made two errors. Sullivan now has 28 errors this year.
Raf Bergstrom relieved Beaven in the seventh and pitched two perfect innings, striking out the side in the bottom of the eighth.
The Tritons fared only slightly better at the plate. Sullivan and second baseman Anthony Lococo each went 2-for-4 and drove in a run. Thorpe walked twice. He leads the team with 17 walks this year.
All of the Tritons’ eight hits were singles. The Tritons left 11 runners on base.
Third baseman Chad Addison, who is notoriously hard to strike out, fanned once. It was his sixth time in 126 at-bats this year.
The Tritons were shut out 5-0 in the second game on Saturday. Cal State LA’s Dave Peters threw his second straight complete game shutout, giving up seven hits and striking out four.
UCSD’s Andy Hanau gave up five runs, two of them earned, and nine hits in seven innings. The loss dropped his record to 2-6.
The Tritons had more troubles in the field as shortstop Ian Nagy made two errors in the second inning.
Cal State LA again led early and was ahead 4-0 at the end of the second. The Golden Eagles’ shortstop Rashawn Owens homered to right field to lead off the sixth inning. Owens was 2-for-2 with one home run, one RBI, two walks and two runs scored.
The Tritons’ designated hitter, Ryan Larson, went 2-for-3 and walked once. Larson has six hits in his last three games and leads the team with a .419 batting average.
UCSD is now 10-23 overall and 5-18 in CCAA play.
The two rained-out games will be rescheduled and played later in the season.
