The UCSD baseball team took on Cal State Dominguez Hills in a four-game series March 4 through March 6. The Tritons rallied in game one to earn the victory in extra innings, 6-5. The Toros then battled back in game two as they came from behind to defeat UCSD, 12-9. The series then moved north to Carson, Calif., where the Tritons proceeded to crush Dominguez Hills in consecutive games of a doubleheader, 19-9 and 10-3.
In the first game on March 4, junior centerfielder Brad Beltz, who entered the game as a pinch-runner in the eighth inning, opened the 10th inning with a triple to left-center that barely eluded senior Toro leftfielder Jason Flores as he made a diving attempt for it. Then, junior third baseman Alex Gascon poked a base hit to right field to drive in Beltz and secure the victory.
Triton sophomore hurler Ryan Leake earned the win in relief of starting sophomore pitcher Byron Grubman, throwing 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball to improve to a perfect 3-0. Grubman, coming off his second complete game this season, allowed 12 hits and five runs over 7.1 innings of work. He walked one and struck out four. Leake also walked one and struck out three Toro batters.
Sophomore rightfielder Damian Fante was 3-for-5 for the Tritons, while junior first baseman Brian Robinson added a pair of hits, including an RBI single, which scored Beltz to make it a 5-5 game in the eighth inning. Gascon finished 2-for-4 with the game-winning RBI, a run and a sacrifice, in addition to several key defensive plays at third base.
Game two on March 4 did not work out as well for UCSD as game one did. Ahead 7-2 after a three-run fourth inning and a four-run fifth, UCSD broke down defensively and allowed a six-run Toro comeback. Dominguez Hills put together a rally in the seventh inning, bringing 11 men to the plate and notching four hits while capitalizing on a pair of Triton errors. For the game, UCSD made four errors. A two-run single by junior first baseman Ian Corso made it a 7-4 game and set up a three-run, game-tying home run by senior leftfielder Jason Flores, which just snuck over the left field wall. It was his first home run of the year. The Toros added four more runs in the eighth inning, with two of them coming on bases-loaded walks.
UCSD junior pitcher Logan Boutilier started on the hill for the Tritons and went 6.1 innings. Boutilier allowed four runs on 10 hits during his time on the mound. In relief, junior pitcher Tyler Smith gave up the three-run home run and allowed the Toros to tie the game, and later gave up the go-ahead run in the inning with no outs. Smith took the loss for the Tritons and falls to 0-2 on the year.
Triton junior pitcher Shlomo Lipetz came on in the eighth inning and was also knocked around. Lipetz gave up four runs in the eighth inning, which put the game out of reach for the Tritons.
Junior second baseman Rickey Pinocchio recorded three RBIs for UCSD. Senior catcher Jeff Riddle and junior shortstop Keith Hernandez did most of the damage offensively, combining to go 7-for-9 with two RBI and four runs scored. Riddle went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a triple and an RBI. Hernandez went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Gascon finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run.
After the defeat in game two, the Tritons rallied on March 6 to put on an offensive show in games three and four, and did not allow the Toros to get in a position to make a comeback.
UCSD took the twin bill, 19-9 and 10-3. The victories move the Tritons to 15-9 overall and 8-6 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Cal State Dominguez Hills falls to 7-18 overall on the year and 3-13 in the CCAA.
UCSD takes on Grand Canyon University this week in a four-game home series March 10, March 11 and March 13 at Triton Baseball Stadium. The games on March 10 and March 11 will each begin at 2:30 p.m. The doubleheader on March 13 begins at 11 a.m. In the middle of the series on March 12, the Tritons will take on Point Loma Nazarene University in the first-ever day game at Petco Park at 11 a.m.
