BASEBALL ‘mdash; There are only four teams left at the Division-II College World Series and UCSD is one of them.
Facing elimination for the second day in a row, the No. 1 Tritons poured on a tournament-high 13 runs against No. 21 Dowling University ‘mdash; the same team that silenced UCSD in the College World Series’ first round ‘mdash; keeping national title hopes alive with a 13-1 drubbing of the Golden Lions on May 27. With the win, UCSD advances to face No. 3 Emporia State University today at noon in Cary, N.C.
‘I think the biggest thing is, we didn’t look at this as an elimination game,’ junior shortstop Vance Albitz said in a statement. ‘We didn’t wake up [that] morning and say, ‘We might lose today.”
The win over Dowling came a day after the Tritons beat No. 2 West Chester 8-6. A strong start from redshirt junior Matt Rossman helped the Tritons post their first win at nationals.
In UCSD’s first matchup with Dowling, the Triton lineup didn’t get its first hit until the sixth inning, falling to the Golden Lions 3-1. The second time around, UCSD didn’t wait nearly as long.
With two outs in the second inning, senior designated hitter Matt Cantele broke a scoreless tie with a single that scored junior left fielder Evan Kehoe. The teams scored one run apiece in the fourth inning, preserving UCSD’s one-run lead.
After a scoreless fifth, the Tritons got their leadoff man on base in the top of the sixth when junior center fielder Robert Sedin was hit by a pitch. But after Cantele flied out, Dowling’s catcher easily caught the speedy Sedin attempting to steal second base, seemingly squashing UCSD’s rally.
With two outs, junior catcher Kellen Lee drew a walk and senior right fielder Tim Mort singled to keep the inning alive. Dowling reliever Marc Rutledge came into the game looking for the inning’s final out, but was immediately met by five consecutive singles that scored six runs ‘mdash; the highest run total in an inning from any team in the tournament ‘mdash; and gave UCSD an 8-1 lead.
‘We’re a very explosive offense when we put it all together,’ head coach Dan O’Brien said. ‘When the guys stick to their plan, it’s a pretty tough lineup to pitch to.’
Playing with the big lead, senior starting pitcher Trevor Decker got three quick outs in the bottom of the sixth to keep UCSD on top by seven.
The Tritons added to their lead with runs in each of the last three innings, finishing the game with 23 hits. Decker held the Golden Lions scoreless over the final frames, allowing just three hits in his complete game victory. The senior pitcher dominated much of the game, sending down 10 straight Dowling batters during a stretch spanning from the fourth inning to the seventh.
Decker’s strong outing came on the heels of another solid UCSD start. Against West Chester, Rossman was charged with five runs, but four of them came in the ninth inning. The Triton starter only gave up one run
in the first eight innings, helping UCSD to an 8-6 victory.
‘Regarding Trevor Decker and Matt Rossman’s outings, those are two veteran pitchers that stepped up and threw big ballgames when we needed them to, because that’s what great players do,’ O’Brien said.
With Rossman dealing on the mound against West Chester, UCSD put together 14 hits to take an 8-1 lead heading into the final frame.
Things got a little dicey in the ninth inning when West Chester loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the ninth. After Rossman gave up an RBI single, junior reliever Ryland McFadyen came in from the bullpen with UCSD leading 8-2 to notch the game’s final out.
Golden Ram freshman Matt Baer made the game interesting, sending a McFadyen pitch over the fence for a grand slam that cleared West Chester’s bench and cut UCSD’s lead to two runs.
Following the jarring at-bat, McFadyen settled down to get the final out on a well-hit ball to right field that tailed away from Mort before the Triton outfielder tracked it down to end the game.
‘We played a great team and that was a pretty potent lineup that Matt [Rossman] shut down,’ O’Brien said in a statement. ‘The only thing I could think about [after the game] is a month ago when Matt got hit in the face with a line drive and he broke his jaw. He just wanted to know how he could get back out there to pitch. He got back out there and shut down a great offensive team.’
UCSD now turns its attention to Emporia State ‘mdash; one of two teams left that have gone undefeated in the tournament. The other 3-0 team, Lynn University, faces Belmont Abbey College today at 4 p.m.
‘We’re playing the best baseball of the year at the right time,’ O’Brien said. ‘With only four teams left in this tournament, we feel like there’s no reason why we can’t dogpile and be the best team in the nation at the Division-II level.’
All Division-II College World Series games can be streamed live at www.moc.edu/athletics.
Readers can contact Janani Sridharan at [email protected].