Once again, rain proved to be a third-party factor in the opening game between No. 19 UCSD and league rival Cal State Los Angeles on March 4. The inclement weather forced the teams to postpone the remainder of the game after the Tritons were ahead, 7-0, through six innings. The game continued March 5 with a 7-3 Triton victory over the Golden Eagles.
Because of the postponement, the originally scheduled doubleheader between the teams turned into a single second game in which Cal State Los Angeles (5-5 overall, 4-5 California Collegiate Athletic Association) edged UCSD (8-3 overall, 4-2 CCAA), 8-6, for the win. Game three was played on March 6 but results were unavailable at press time.
In the opener, Triton junior outfielder Matt Lawson nearly hit for the cycle with a homerun, a double and a single.
UCSD scored early and often, fending off an attempted comeback late in the game from the Golden Eagles. Lawson, currently hitting .289, kicked off the Triton onslaught with a solo homerun in the bottom of the first inning. The blast initiated the UCSD scoring throughout the game.
Senior left fielder Joel Clark, senior third baseman Alex Gascon and freshman first baseman Chris Hom notched two hits apiece, contributing to the Triton victory.
Starting on the hill for UCSD, junior Jose Navarro (1-0) pitched six scoreless innings, striking out seven en route to picking up his first win of the season. When the game started to warm up in the top of the seventh inning on March 5, the Tritons used three relief pitchers to close out the win.
Freshman reliever Hunter Swanson (0-0) came on in the seventh inning, followed by junior Evan McDonald (0-0) and senior Ryan Leake (2-1) to close out the ninth. The powerful combination on the mound put any notion of a Cal State Los Angeles rally to rest as the Golden Eagles hit into a game-ending double play.
The Golden Eagles took the second game of the series on March 5, edging UCSD 8-6. The Golden Eagles scored six runs and jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the fifth inning, then held out to defeat the Tritons. UCSD was unable to rebound despite a valiant effort over the ensuing four and a half innings of play.
UCSD brought the potential tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but the Triton offense halted as sophomore designated hitter David Morehead hit a flyout to center field, ending the inning at 8-4.
In UCSD’s half of the ninth, Clark smacked a one-out double, scoring senior right fielder Ryan Langone. With two outs, Morehead singled in Clark to make it 8-6.
The Tritons were unable to send across the potential tying run as Cal State Los Angeles inched out the win.
Triton senior hurler Logan Boutilier (3-1) who currently leads all UCSD pitchers in wins, suffered his first loss of the season.
UCSD gets back into non-conference action when it hosts Northern Kentucky University with two single games on March 7 and March 8. Both games are slated to start at 2 p.m. at Triton Baseball Field.
