The No. 22 Tritons capitalized on four home runs, two from junior catcher David Morehead, en route to a 10-7 win on April 7, the second game in a four-game series between UCSD and Cal Poly Pomona that saw both offenses explode for big wins.
Junior third baseman Jonathan Erickson applies the tag in the UCSD’s 10-7 win over Pomona on April 7, which featured four UCSD long balls.
The series spanned three days and two cities and ended with UCSD bouncing back from a 1-3 series against Cal State Stanislaus with three wins over Cal Poly Pomona.
After losing three out of four to the Warriors, the Tritons were at risk of losing their top-25 ranking, but proved their worth with the wins over the Broncos. UCSD took the first three games by scores of 4-3, 10-7 and 6-1, but fell in the series finale by a score of 12-3.
The Tritons, who only scored seven runs in the series against the Warriors, put together 20 runs in the first three games against the Broncos.
Although its offense was key throughout the series, UCSD was held hitless from the fourth to the seventh innings in the series opener and needed an error on a fielder’s choice in the eighth inning to take the 4-3 victory.
The Tritons had a 3-0 lead in the first game heading into the seventh inning on a two-run first and another run in the third, but allowed the Broncos two runs in the seventh and another in the eighth for a 3-3 tie going into the home half.
The team’s bats picked up the demoralized Triton pitchers by scoring the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a sloppy play by the Broncos. With runners on first and second and one out, freshman Josh Tanner hit into a fielder’s choice, but the pitcher covering first base mishandled the throw, allowing freshman pinch-runner Devin Incerti to score the winning run from second base.
Senior Ryan Leake retired the Broncos in the ninth to pick up his second win of the season.
Like the opener, the second game of the series at UCSD saw the Tritons capitalize on sloppy Bronco play, this time taking a 1-0 first inning lead on four wild pitches. The Broncos scored two runs in the second inning to take a 2-1 advantage, only to see UCSD regain the lead with three runs in the third off back-to-back home runs from junior catcher David Morehead and sophomore designated hitter Scott Clement. Morehead drove in junior left fielder John Roth with his dinger, while Clement’s was a solo shot.
With a 4-2 lead, UCSD hoped senior starting pitcher Jose Navarro could hold off the Bronco bats. Instead, Navarro could only record one out while allowing five runs before giving way to senior T.C. Geach, who came in with runners on first and third and one out. Geach allowed one of Navarro’s baserunners to score before recording the last two outs of the inning, as the Broncos batted around and scored five runs to take a 7-4 lead.
Despite seeing the lead they created slip away once again, the Triton batters fought back in their half of the fifth inning, with Morehead leading off the inning with a solo home run, his second of the game. Still down by two runs with only one out in the inning, the Tritons got the equalizer from a walk by freshman first baseman Matt Cantele and a two-run home run by senior center fielder Damian Fante. Freshman rightfielder Tim Mort doubled and advanced to third on a ground out, forcing the Tritons to rely on two-out hitting for the go-ahead run. UCSD put together three-straight singles and took a 9-7 lead.
The team got an insurance run in the sixth inning on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly and Geach held the Broncos scoreless. Leake made his second appearance in the series with one out in the eighth inning. Leake kept Pomona off the board in the eighth and ninth innings, tallying his fourth save and giving Geach his third win.
With a 2-0 lead in the series, UCSD traveled to Pomona to finish the final games, winning the first away game 6-1 and falling in the finale 12-3.
Freshman pitcher Trevor Decker, who came out of the bullpen earlier in the season, was dominant throughout the 6-1 win, pitching a complete game while allowing only one run on five hits in his first start.
“When you come out of the bullpen, you have a killer instinct to put a team away because that’s your job,” Decker said. “When you start, your instinct is to keep your team as close as possible to give them a chance to win at the end.”
After silencing the Bronco bats for most of the series, Cal Poly Pomona unleashed 12 runs in its lone win, while holding the Tritons to three runs. Junior UCSD starting pitcher Todd Gimenez only went one and one-third inning and gave up five runs, three earned, in the losing effort.
Though the final game did not go as planned, the 3-1 series win puts the Tritons in a good position to contend for the California Collegiate Athletics Association title.
The Tritons will play Cal State Monterey Bay for three games on April 14 and April 15. The team then finishes out the season against various CCAA opponents, none ranked in the top 25, before the CCAA Tournament begins on May 11.
