There isn’t much that can slow down the UCSD men’s baseball team, whose pitching has been nearly flawless and whose aggressive offense produces runs at the most crucial times. And for head coach Dan O’Brien, there’s no better time to peak than at the end of the season.
Pitcher perfect:
“I think this team is finally getting to where it needs to be,” O’Brien said. “We’ve been trying to get there for three months and we’re starting to play some very good baseball right now, which is exciting.”
Exciting is one way to describe UCSD’s (33-19 overall, 23-17 California Collegiate Athletic Association) four-game sweep of Grand Canyon (26-21) at Triton Baseball Field from May 6 through May 8, including another stellar performance on the mound by junior starter Byron Grubman (5-3). Reeling off a complete game shutout in his last start, Grubman threw another complete game in the Tritons’ 6-4 win against Grand Canyon University in game one on May 6.
“I think Byron had to overcome some high expectations after a phenomenal freshman year,” O’Brien said. “And it’s hard to do when you know that every team that you compete against has a book on you and knows what you’re gonna throw; you have to learn to still get outs. I think we’re coming to the end of a very important maturing process for Grubman. I’m really proud of him.”
Down 4-2, Grand Canyon drove in a run apiece in the seventh and eighth innings to tie it at 4-4. It looked like a 1-2-3 inning for the Antelopes, but centerfielder Brian Smith dropped a fly ball hit by senior shortstop Keith Hernandez, allowing the Tritons offense to come up with a pair of clutch runs with two outs. O’Brien sent in freshman Chris Hom to pinch hit for senior outfielder Brad Beltz, and the rookie delivered with a single up the middle to drive Hernandez home. Hom reached second on a throwing error and Grand Canyon went to its bullpen, sending Kyle Holtorf to relieve Scott Welch. With Langone on second as a pinch runner for Hom, junior leftfielder David Gomez drove in Langone to reclaim the lead for UCSD, 6-4.
“I knew we were going to come back and score a run,” Grubman said. “We put up two, which was nice, but I knew we were going to come back and we were going to win the game.”
The Antelopes threatened again in the ninth, putting two runners aboard, but Grubman capped off a gutsy performance by striking out Branden Ishikawa for the final out, earning his fifth win of the season.
“I was making good pitches and they were hitting good pitches, so I figured if I kept making my pitches, they’d roll over,” Grubman said.
UCSD brought its momentum to game two on May 7 where senior first baseman Brian Robinson broke open a 5-5 tie with a three-run home run in the fourth inning to secure the Tritons’ 9-6 win. The bullpen was also key for the Tritons with junior Matthew Sweany (2-0) relieving starter Jose Navarro (4-4) for three innings, giving up three hits and one run for his second save of the season.
UCSD’s bats continued to pound away at Grand Canyon in game three, which saw six different Tritons recording an RBI, led by junior rightfielder Matt Lawson who went 2-for-4 with four RBIs. His RBI triple in the game places him at the top of the UCSD single season record book with seven triples.
On the mound, senior ace Logan Boutilier picked up his 10th win of the season, tying the UCSD single season record.
“It’s kind of a relief,” Boutilier (10-2) said about tying the record. “It feels good because it’s been a couple of weeks since people have started to talk about it. And I finally put together an outing good enough to where I actually deserve to win and our team put up runs for me to win, so it’s very nice.”
The Tritons completed their four-game sweep in game two of the doubleheader with a 7-4 victory behind the bat of senior designated hitter Joel Clark, who led with three RBIs and the combined pitching of junior starter Ryan Leake (7-4) and freshman relief pitcher Hunter Swanson. Swanson pitched three scoreless innings, giving up only one hit and one walk for the first save of his collegiate career.
The Tritons have concluded their regular season and will play Cal Poly Pomona in the first round of the CCAA Tournament beginning on May 12 in Chico, Calif..
Game four was the last home game for 11 seniors on the team: Matt Anderson, Brad Beltz, Boutilier, Joel Clark, Alex Gascon, Hernandez, Craig King, Ryan Langone, Shlomo Lipetz, Ricky Pinnochio and Robinson. The 11 seniors were honored before game one of the doubleheader.
Pinnochio is second all-time on runs scored and tied for third in doubles and triples in a single season. He and Hernandez earned Second Team All-CCAA Honors for the 2004 season.
Hernandez is the all-time single season leader in hits with 85 and assists with 190, and has started every game for UCSD since his freshman year.
“It kinda caught me by surprise, I didn’t really think about it until now,” Hernandez said of playing his last game at UCSD. “It’s kind of amazing now that I think about it. I think it’s just pretty incredible and lucky that I got the chance to play everyday and haven’t been hurt.”
The routines of baseball that Hernandez has grown accustomed to are what he says he will miss the most.
“The team atmosphere, with the routine we go through with hitting before the game and stuff like that, is what I’ll probably miss the most,” he said.
It did not occur to Boutilier either that it was his last regular season game at UCSD until after the doubleheader ended.
“I was getting ready to pitch, and it didn’t really hit me until the game was actually over,” Boutilier said. “I was blown aback. This is the last time that I’m going to wear a uniform on this field. And as soon as we broke on the outfield, I took a slow walk around the field and said “hi” to a couple of my friends on my team, and I’m still just kind of taking it all in and taking in all the moments.”
