After a prosperous 7-2 home stand March 13 through March 28, the Division II No. 10 UCSD baseball team took to the road April 2 through April 4 to take on California Collegiate Athletic Association leaders UC Davis. The Tritons’ solid play was interrupted by the Aggies as they dropped game one, 7-4, game two, 6-3, and game three, 4-3, of the four-game series against UC Davis. Game four was still in progress at press time.
With the losses, UCSD falls to 25-15 overall and 15-12 in the CCAA. The Aggies are ineligible for post-season play due to their gradual transition to Division I. The Tritons had won 10 of their last 12 games before the series with Davis, including a 10-2 victory over Vanguard University on March 31.
The Aggies jumped on the Tritons early in the series opener. UC Davis center fielder Robby Tulk opened the bottom of the first inning with a triple to right field. The Aggies pushed across three runs in the inning and added two more in the bottom of the fourth off of a two-run homer by Tulk.
The Tritons put up a run in the top of the fourth inning after senior catcher Jeff Riddle smacked a double to left-center field. Riddle’s double scored UCSD junior shortstop Keith Hernandez, who had singled up the middle earlier in the same inning.
Down 7-1 through seven innings, the Tritons mounted a three-run rally in the top of the ninth, but it was enough to overtake the Aggies. UCSD sophomore center fielder Damian Fante’s single to center field drove in two of the three runs in the inning.
UC Davis held on to earn the victory over the Tritons, 7-4. Aggie pitcher Michael Potter went 8.2 innings and earned the victory. He improved to a perfect 5-0 on the season with the win.
UCSD sophomore pitcher Byron Grubman went seven innings, giving up seven runs on 13 hits and striking out four Aggie batters. Grubman fell to 3-3 with the loss.
Tulk, the Aggies leadoff batter, went 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. He blasted a two-run home run in the fourth inning, his seventh of the season, and had a triple to open the game. Aggie first baseman Lukas Kirby and right fielder Kyle Irving each added three hits, with Kirby scoring twice. Second baseman Brandon Oliver was 2-for-4 with a triple, a run and an RBI.
For UCSD, Riddle was 2-for-4 with a run-scoring double in the fourth. Fante drove in a pair of runs with a ninth-inning single and made eight putouts in the field.
Box score results for games two and three were not available at press time.
The Tritons return home to face non-conference crosstown rival Point Loma Nazarene University in a single game on April 7. The two teams met earlier this year at Petco Park, where UCSD inched out the victory over the Sea Lions, 2-1.
