Westerly Post

CARSON, Calif. – Tenth-ranked UC San Diego responded to dropping its previous two games with lights-out pitching and plenty of offense in routing Cal State Dominguez Hills, 12-0, in the opener of a four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) baseball series Thursday afternoon at Toro Field.

The Tritons improved to 8-4 overall and 4-1 in the CCAA. Contesting its conference opener, Cal State Dominguez Hills moved to 5-4 overall and 0-1 in league play. It was a fifth straight win for UCSD against the Toros, having swept last season’s set.

UCSD produced a season-high 17 hits in equaling its top scoring output for the year. The result also marked a 200th win for fourth-year Triton manager Eric Newman in his seventh season as a head coach. He previously directed Dallas Baptist for three years.

Both teams put a pair of runners on base in the opening frame, each in identical fashion via one-out single followed by a walk, but produced nothing to show for it, with Triton starter Justin Donatella striking out Juan Avena with Toros at the corners to end the home half.

Redshirt freshman leftfielder Justin Flatt led off the second with a double into the gap in right center. After a called third strike, senior catcher Brett Levy sent a 3-2 pitch to center to put Tritons at the corners. Facing another two-strike count from CSUDH starter Winston Lavendier, Tyler Howsley punched an RBI single through the right side to plate Flatt with the game’s first run. That was all UCSD would get.

Back-to-back one-out walks and a double steal with two away put the Tritons in position to add to their slim lead in the third, and that is exactly what they did as redshirt freshman designated hitter Steven Coe (Valley Center/Valley Center HS) dumped a two-run single down the right field line on Lavendier’s 2-2 offering.

Having attained that bit of cushion, Donatella came out and threw seven straight balls in the next half, walking a pair around a groundout, before striking out Kamran Young swinging and getting Brady Conlan to fly out harmlessly to center.

UCSD looked to be back in business in the fifth through singles by Troy Cruz (Chula Vista/Bonita Vista HS) andJack Larsen to lead things off, but couldn’t capitalize.

Donatella wiped out a leadoff hit-by-pitch by dialing up a 4-6-3 double play in the fifth, but the Toros still made things interesting in the frame with a double and subsequent fielding error putting runners at the corners again. Young flied out to left, however, to keep the home side scoreless.

The Tritons added a run with a two-out rally in the fifth, as Brandon Shirley singled up the middle, stole second, and scored easily on Erik Lewis’ first triple of the year.

Larsen opened the seventh with his second home run of 2015 out to right. The Tritons then loaded the bases on a pair of singles around a walk, and tacked on a sixth run on a wild pitch by Toro reliever Gary Hercules.

Hercules walked the bases full in the eighth before being replaced, and Larsen greeted the new arm with a two-run single. Another wild pitch and an RBI double by Flatt made the score 10-0. UCSD tacked on two final scores in the ninth.

Donatella (2-1) threw 6.0 shutout innings, lowering his season ERA to 0.56 over 16 frames, and allowed three hits and three walks. He struck out eight to match his season high, punching out the side in the home second, the first two on called strikes, and also cruising through a perfect fourth. Javier Carrillo, Jr., worked a perfect seventh, all on the infield with a popout, groundout and strikeout. The senior right-hander also tossed a scoreless eighth with another inning-ending strikeout.

Larsen finished 3-for-4 with his home run, a walk, three runs, three RBI and two steals. Coe was 2-for-4 with two RBI, and has now driven in five runs over the last two games. Lewis, Flatt and Howsley added two hits apiece. Shirely and Michael Mann each scored twice.

UCSD began the day with five stolen bases on six tries over its first 11 games, and came away with four steals on four attempts, the most in a single contest by the Tritons since the 2013 season finale at Cal State Monterey Bay on May 5, 2013.

Lavendier (2-1), the reigning CCAA Pitcher of the Week, lasted five complete frames and gave up three runs on seven hits and three walks. The senior left-hander fanned two, retiring the Tritons in order in the fourth.

UCSD and Cal State Dominguez Hills continue their four-game, split-venue CCAA series in Carson on Friday, Feb. 20. First pitch at Toro Field is again set for 2 p.m.

Triton Notes: With Erik Lewis‘ first-inning single and Justin Flatt‘s leadoff double in the second, the duo remained the only two Tritons to reach base in all 12 games this season … Flatt wound up with a pair of doubles for the first time in his career … With two more walks, Troy Cruz increased his league-best total to 18 … Jack Larsen, who ranks second behind Cruz in the CCAA, drew his 10th walk in the third … The third-inning double steal by Larsen and Michael Mann gave each player a second theft in as many attempts, with Larsen adding another in the fifth to give him a career-best two on the day and make him a perfect 5-for-5 for his career … Redshirt freshman Tim Whitedrew his first career at-bat in the ninth after four pinch-running appearances … True freshman Tyler Plantier(Poway/Del Norte HS) was credited with his first career RBI on a fielder’s choice ground ball in the ninth.

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