The UCSD baseball team is on an eight-game losing streak. The Tritons faced Biola University on April 16 in a nonconference game and lost 9-5, on April 16.
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This past weekend, UC Davis came to Triton Baseball Field for a four-game series against UCSD from April 18 to April 20. The Aggies swept the Tritons, winning the games 10-2, 9-4, 3-1 and 12-5, respectively. The losses sunk UCSD from a tie for first place into fourth place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
The Aggies dominated the Tritons in game one. With just one out in the top of the first, Davis shortstop Ryan Coultas blasted his third home run of the year to left field. Aggie right fielder Dustin Soderman led off the second inning with a triple and scored to put Davis up by two. After Davis added two more runs in the fourth off of two doubles, UCSD right fielder Brett Burton tried to get the Tritons on track by smacking a solo home run to right field in the bottom half, his fourth on the year. The Aggies refused to back down, putting up two runs in the sixth and four runs in the eighth to capture the series opener 10-2.
UCSD pitcher Jose Navarro picked up the loss and fell to 3-6.
Aggies pitcher Trevor Thornton threw a complete game and improved to 7-2.
Though the Tritons mustered up a few more hits in the second game, the first of the doubleheader on April 19, they still were unable to overcome the Aggies’ offense. Again, Davis scored a single run in the first off consecutive doubles from third baseman Matt Kawigawachi and first baseman David Butterworth. The Aggies tacked on three more runs in the third, getting another double from Butterworth, who drove in two out of the three runs that inning.
In that same inning, Triton right fielder David Hawk launched his third home run of the year to right center field. Left fielder Damian Fante also scored in the inning after second baseman Nigel Miller singled him in. Yet, Davis countered again, putting up four runs in the fourth and one in the fifth. UCSD continued to battle as Miller led off both the sixth and eighth innings with doubles, scoring off of a single and a sacrifice by Triton first baseman Keith Albrecht. This was to no avail since the Aggies won 9-4.
“”We’re going through a tough time,”” said UCSD head coach Dan O’Brien. “”But the only thing that is important at this point is that we have a solid, hard-working ball club that still has something to play for and that continues to be our focus.””
Triton pitcher Raf Bergstrom went 3.2 innings and fell to 5-2 on the season with the loss.
For Davis, pitcher Michael Potter picked up the win and improved to 6-3.
In the third game of the series, UCSD jumped out to a one-run lead in the first, but that would be their only run of the game. Davis put up single runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings to take the second game of the twinbill 3-1.
UCSD hurler Byron Grubman pitched a complete game, but suffered his first loss of the season to bring his record to 7-1.
In the series closer, Davis put up runs in six out of the nine innings. The Aggies put up two runs in the second and never looked back. They scored two runs in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, and then clinched the victory with three additional runs in the eighth.
Triton third baseman Alex Gascon knocked his first home run of the year in the seventh. He went 2-for-3 in the game.
UCSD freshman pitcher Justin Suarez picked up his third loss of the season and fell to 0-3.
The Aggies had 22 hits in the 12-5 victory over the Tritons.
After the series finale, O’Brien realized the challenge that UCSD faced over the past two weekends.
“”We can’t forget that we just played two of the better teams in our conference who both admitted that they are playing the best baseball that they’ve played all year,”” he said.
UCSD, once comfortably in first place, now faces the possibility of not qualifying for the postseason. At 24-23 overall and 18-16 in the CCAA, the Tritons must play a solid weekend of baseball against CSU Stanislaus, which visits Triton Baseball Field this weekend in the final series of CCAA competition.
“”At this point, our goal is to get better and move onto next weekend,”” O’Brien said. “”We can only concern ourselves with the things we can control.””
