Tying the school record for wins in a season and making it to the NCAA Division II West Regional for the first time in program history is quite an accomplishment for UCSD baseball.
Sophomore outfielder Tim Mort was one of the few players who stepped up for the Tritons in the West Regional. Mort had thee RBIs on two hits in UCSD’s two games in the tournament.
Unfortunately, the celebration was stunted by the Tritons’ two losses in their first two games in the double-elimination tournament, ending their 2007 season on a disappointing note.
“”I feel like we could have won it all,”” senior infielder Jonathan Erickson said. “”We had the hitting, the pitching and the defense but we just didn’t play up to our potential.””
The No. 22 Tritons, the fifth seed in the West region, suffered a close 5-4 loss to No. 16 Mesa State College in their tournament opener. They were then eliminated by the No. 1 team in the nation, Sonoma State – which was also the team they lost to in the CCAA title game – by a final score of 10-3.
Coming in as the underdog, the Tritons scored first in both contests, but gave up leads in big innings and couldn’t bounce back.
Against Mesa State, UCSD took a 1-0 lead with two outs in the fourth inning as Erickson drove in senior outfielder Bryan Silverman from second with a single to center field.
The lead didn’t last long, however, as the Mavericks came back in the bottom of the inning with four runs to take a 4-1 lead, which they would not relinquish for the rest of the game.
Mesa State loaded the bases with one out: The Mavericks scored their first two runs on a UCSD error and added another two on a double.
The Mavericks then tacked on another run on a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning, increasing their lead to 5-1 heading into the sixth.
UCSD started its comeback efforts at the top of the sixth inning when senior second baseman/outfielder John Roth and Silverman hit back-to-back singles. Both runners moved up on a groundout, putting sophomore outfielder Tim Mort at the plate with two outs and two runners in scoring position. Mort stepped up in the clutch and drove in both runners on a single, bringing UCSD within 5-3 with three innings left to play.
The Tritons were not done threatening, as junior first/third baseman Chris Franco’s 14th home run of the year brought UCSD within a run in the seventh inning.
Even though UCSD was on the verge of tying the game, Mesa State head coach Chris Hanks put his faith in his starter, Brett Armour, who returned the favor by finishing off the Tritons in the eighth and ninth innings for the complete game win, increasing his record to 14-2.
Armour was brilliant, allowing only the four runs on eight hits, while striking out nine with no walks.
“”We hit the ball hard,”” Erickson said. “”They just threw well. They got the outs when they needed to and we didn’t get timely hits.””
The Tritons dropped their tournament opener despite out-hitting the Mavericks 8-5, but the two-run error might have sealed their fate.
The tough loss forced UCSD into an elimination game against the Seawolves the morning after their night game against Mesa State.
The fatigue was not evident at first, as the Tritons scored two first-inning runs to take their only lead of the game. Sonoma State scored three runs each in the third, fourth and eighth innings to put the game out of reach.
Once again, the Tritons were the victims of a fantastic pitcher throwing a complete game. This time it was the Seawolves’ Bryan Oland, who allowed only three runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out six Tritons over his nine innings.
Despite the quick exit, the Tritons did well considering they were in new territory. They just finished a 37-win season and have a core of young players to help fill the void left by senior stars like Erickson, outfielder Matt Lawson and catcher David Morehead.
“”I think the team is going to do well,”” Erickson said. “”Everyone is going to mature and the team is going to be more talented than it is now.””
