UCSD Baseball and Softball to Host NCAA Regionals

Win and go home!

Those were the watch words for UC San Diego’s baseball and softball teams, which both captured tournament titles on the road and will now host their respective NCAA Regionals this week in La Jolla.

The No. 6 Triton baseball team defeated Cal Poly Pomona, 9-2, Saturday night in Stockton to capture its third straight California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament championship and earn an automatic berth into the NCAA postseason.
  
UCSD (41-13) will host its first-ever NCAA Division II Baseball Championship Regional this week at Triton Stadium beginning on Thursday. Top-seeded UCSD will be joined by rival West Region teams Western Oregon, Cal Poly Pomona and Sonoma State, with the winner advancing to the 44th annual NCAA Championships.
 
The West Regional, which features a double elimination format, will run from Thursday through Sunday at Triton Ballpark. The Tritons will play Sonoma State at 6 p.m. on Thursday. First games are at 1 p.m.
 
The four West Region squads are part of the 48-team field that will compete in eight Regionals across the nation, with the eight regional champions earning a spot at the NCAA Division II Championship Finals, slated for May 28 through June 4 in Cary, NC.
 
The UCSD softball team defeated host Chico State, 2-1, Monday afternoon in walk-off fashion to capture the West Region 1 title and will host the West Super Regional against Cal State San Bernardino at Triton Softball Field on Friday and and Saturday.
 
Taylor Sepulveda laid down a suicide squeeze bunt to score Katrin Gabriel in the bottom of the seventh inning to provide the winning run on Monday.

UCSD (39-13) and CSUSB (35-22) will play Friday at 4 p.m. while Saturday's first game is set for noon. If necessary, a third game will be played a half hour after the conclusion of Saturday's game one.
 
The winner of the best-of-three series qualifies for the May 26-30 National Championships in Salem, VA. The Tritons have never advanced as far as the NCAA Super Regional at either the NCAA Division II or III level.
 
CSUSB, seeded No. 7 in the West, earned a bid to the Super Regional by winning West Region 2 in Kaneohe, HI. The Coyotes outlasted defending national champion No. 2 Hawaii Pacific and CCAA tournament champion No. 3 Sonoma State. The Coyotes finished fifth in the CCAA regular-season standings and did not appear at the CCAA Tournament in early May.
 
UCSD swept CSUSB in the four games between the teams in 2011 and holds a 43-40 all-time advantage over the Coyotes.
 
The Tritons baseball team, which advanced all the way to last season's national championship game, will be making its eighth straight appearance in the Division II West Regional and will be the No. 1 seed.
 
Western Oregon will be the second seed in the West Regional after winning its 10th consecutive Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) championship. The Wolves, ranked 25th nationally in the latest poll, bring a 37-13 record to La Jolla. WOU has qualified for six West Regionals in 11 seasons since moving to Division II.
 
Third-seeded Cal Poly Pomona, the fourth-place finisher in the CCAA, comes in with a 31-21 mark. The Broncos sealed their at-large spot by advancing to the CCAA Tournament finals and boast the league's Most Outstanding Player in senior outfielder Travis Taijeron. It will be CPP's eighth overall appearance in the Division II West Regional and first since 1993.
 
Also from the CCAA, Sonoma State will serve as the fourth seed. The 27th-ranked team in the country, the Seawolves went 0-2 for an early exit from the conference tournament in Stockton, but put together a strong enough regular season to earn the at-large bid. The second-place finisher in the CCAA standings, Sonoma State is 33-19 this season and is making its 11th trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1991 and fourth in the last five years.
 
Other top regional seeds include No. 8 Millersville (Atlantic), No. 26 St. Cloud State (Central), unranked Adelphi (East), No. 1 Grand Valley State (Midwest), No. 3 West Florida (South), No. 2 Mount Olive (Southeast) and No. 4 St. Mary's of Texas (South Central).
 
UCSD’s baseball team has won 20 of its last 21 games, including three of four over the weekend.
 
The right arm of senior Tim Shibuya and five home runs--two each by senior Kellen Lee and sophomore Danny Susdorf--propelled the Tritons to a 9-6 victory over No. 4 seed Cal Poly Pomona in last Thursday's CCAA tourney opener.
 
Shibuya racked up his 11th win of the year by firing seven shutout innings while striking out nine, surrendering just five hits and a walk. Susdorf had three of UCSD's 12 hits, all for extra bases, and scored three times, and senior right fielder Kyle Saul also had three knocks. Lee added three RBIs.

UCSD made it two straight Friday with a crazy 13-9, 12-inning triumph over Chico State, their fifth in a row vs. the Wildcats. Despite working Chico pitching for 12 hits and 11 walks, UCSD needed some ninth-inning fireworks and plenty of extra inning offense to put this one away.
 
Down 5-2 after seven and still trailing 9-8 with one inning to go, UCSD deadlocked the score on a solo shot by senior Evan Kehoe to lead off the ninth.
 
Two frames later, freshman Garrett Tuck's two-run single put the Tritons on the verge of victory but the game Wildcats responded with two of their own.
 
In the 12th, however, with the first five batters reaching base, UCSD produced a five-run outburst, capped by Lee's three-run homer, that Chico couldn't answer.
 
On Saturday afternoon, first-round victim Cal Poly Pomona snapped UCSD's 19-game win streak and forced an evening championship showdown by holding on for a 14-12 victory.
 
In the tournament finale, Triton starter Greg Selarz spotted Cal Poly Pomona two first-inning runs but then shut the Broncos down, with help from Elias Tuma, as UCSD completed its conference domination, prevailing 9-2.
 
Registering perhaps his finest outing of the season, Selarz logged seven innings, gave up seven hits (three in the rocky first) and fanned six while earning his fourth win of the year.
 
Selarz received ample offensive assistance as the top four in the order. Susdorf,  Aaron Bauman, Nick LaFace and Blake Tagmyer blasted 10 of UCSD's 14 hits, scored eight runs and drove in six.
 
Tagmyer, who hit .566 for the weekend, was named tournament MVP and was joined on the all-tourney team by Susdorf, Lee, Shibuya and Selarz.

In the women’s softball West Region 1 play, Camille Gaito (29-4) earned her third consecutive complete-game victory in the 2-1 title-clinching game against Chico State.

Gaito was a perfect 3-0 at the tournament while giving up just two earned runs, striking out 23 and logging a miniscule 0.56 earned run average.

Gaito fanned eight Chico State batters in the championship game. UCSD outscored its opponents 7-3.

In Friday's NCAA First Round, Rhiannon Ousley bunted home Kirsten Willmon in the sixth inning for the game-winning run in a 2-1 victory against No. 8 Central Washington.

Jennifer De Fazio followed suit the next day against Chico State in the Second Round, delivering a two-out, two-RBI single in the top of the 11th to make the difference in a 3-1 ballgame.

De Fazio led all Triton batters with four RBI in three games.

TRITON BASEBALL HONORS

The No. 6 UC San Diego baseball team was well represented on 2011 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) all-conference teams, which were announced last week.
 
The Tritons placed eight student-athletes, more than any other CCAA squad, on all-league teams, while Tim Shibuya was tabbed the Co-Pitcher of the Year and Dan O’Brien was honored as the Coach of the Year for the third straight season.
 
UCSD boasted five All-CCAA First Team picks in Shibuya, third baseman Evan Kehoe, designated hitter Nick La Face,, outfielder Danny Susdorf  and utility man Blake Tagmyer. Selected to the second team were pitchers Guido Knudson and Elias Tumas,  as well as outfielder Kyle Saul. Outfielder  Aaron Bauman  garnered honorable mention recognition.
 
Cal Poly Pomona outfielder Travis Taijeron was named Most Valuable Player while Shibuya and Cal State L.A.'s Gabriel Asakura shared Co-Pitcher of the Year honors.
 
Chico State pitcher Nick Baker was tabbed Freshman of the Year and Sonoma State first baseman O'Koyea Dickson was selected Newcomer of the Year. Dickson and second baseman Carlos Leyva of Cal State Dominguez Hills were the only players to earn unanimous first-team All-CCAA honors.
 
Shibuya, a senior, registered a 7-3 record, 2.44 ERA and two complete games while making 10 CCAA appearances. In 77.1 innings, he allowed 64 hits, 25 runs (21 earned), seven walks and totaled a conference-high 72 strikeouts.
 
It's Shibuya's third election to the all-conference first team. He was the 2008 CCAA Freshman of the Year as well as an honorable mention pick. UCSD has now won the past two Pitcher of the Year awards as Matt Rossman  earned the honor in 2010.
 
O'Brien, in his 14th season piloting the Tritons, was named CCAA Coach of the Year for the third time in his career after leading UC San Diego to the conference regular-season title and eighth consecutive CCAA Tournament appearance. He recently won his 450th career game. O'Brien is the two-time defending NCBWA National Coach of the Year.
 
Along with Shibuya, Bauman and Saul were first-team all-league members in 2010, while Kehoe was honorable mention.

WOMEN’S WATER POLO

Coach Brad Kreutzkamp's women's water polo team, competing it its first-ever NCAA Championship tournament, finished seventh in the eight-team field, taking its first NCAA match on Sunday, a 15-9 victory over Iona behind Sarah Lizotte’s five goals.
 
The Tritons, who made the tourney in Ann Arbor, MI, as champions of the Western Water Polo Association, closed out their campaign 18-20, matching last year's win total.
 
In their NCAA debut on Friday, the 14th-ranked Tritons played well in stretches but simply didn't have the firepower to hang with No. 2 Cal, falling 13-5.
 
The Golden Bears got out quickly, outscoring UCSD by three in each of the first two periods to go into the break with an 8-2 advantage.
 
Although the second half was much tighter, in the end the Cal lead proved too much to overcome. UCSD converted 4-of-12 man-up situations and goalie Allie Taylor made nine saves.
 
Senior Hanalei Crowell and freshman Lizotte scored two  goalseach. A late Crowell off-speed shot was UCSD's only natural goal and Lizotte may have had the goal of the game on a skip shot that went bar down early in the second half.

On Saturday, the Tritons dropped an 11-8 decision to No. 10. Indiana. Kirsten Bates had a three-goal hat trick for UCSD while Lizotte had two goals and Taylor turned away nine shots.

In Sunday's win over Iona for seventh place, Lizotte scored UCSD's first five goals and the Tritons' superior depth eventually wore down the Gaels, who stayed close in the first half as  Kreutzkamp used his bench liberally.

The two teams were tied 6-6 at the midway point, but in the second half the UCSD strategy began paying dividends and the Tritons outscored their Eastern counterparts 9-3 in the last two periods. Bates chipped in with three goals and Taylor continued her solid play with six saves.
 
Bates was named to the all-tournament second team.
 
No. 1 Stanford (28-1) captured the program’s second national title, beating rival Cal for the 31st consecutive time, 9-5. The Cardinal also won the title in 2002.

MEN’S TENNIS

Coach Eric Steidlmayer's 10th-ranked men's tennis team saw its undefeated record and national title hopes disappear last Thursday against 13th-ranked Columbus State in the first round of the 2011 NCAA Division II Championships in Altamonte Springs, FL.

The talented Cougars put the 20-0 Tritons away quickly, sweeping the three doubles matches and then taking a pair of straight-set singles match-ups to clinch at 5-0.

Steidlmayer's club, which registered the first perfect regular season in school history, figures to be strong again next season with just three seniors--No. 1 Erik Elliott, No. 5 Vincent Nguyen and doubles specialist Armaun Emami--graduating.

MEN'S GOLF

In his third try, senior Keith Okasaki is making his first trip to the NCAA Division II Golf Championships at Florence, AL, as UCSD's lone representative at this year's tournament.

Play runs through Friday at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at The Shoals, which features a pair of 18-hole courses along the banks of the Tennessee River.

Okasaki, playing as an individual, finished in a tie for fifth (the top two individuals moved on to the national tournament) at the Central/West Regional two weeks ago in Albuquerque to earn his first trip to the national event.

The previous two times he had qualified for the NCAA Regional, Okasaki failed to advance.

TRACK & FIELD

Their regular season now in the books, coaches Tony Salerno and Darcy Ahner will wait for a scheduled Wednesday announcement to find out which of their charges will be heading to Turlock May 26-28 for the NCAA Division II Championships.

A host of Triton athletes competed at Saturday's "Last Chance" Qualifier at Cal State L.A., where UCSD got wins from sprinter Kelly Fogarty in the 200 (23.92) and junior Tobi Haswell in the 400 hurdles (53.96).

Also taking first was the women's 4x100 relay contingent of Bailey Weaver, Kathleen Hitchens, Jacqueline Rose and Fogarty (47.45).

Other noteworthy performances were turned in by AB Shaheen (2nd/hammer/182-10), Erin Langford (2nd/triple jump/38-3.25), and the tandem of Deyna Roberson (3rd/62.61) and Caitlin Meagher (4th/62.96) in the 400 hurdles.

Ka Wai Ng went 46-4 while placing sixth in the triple jump and George Davis posted a p.r. of 48-9.5 to take sixth in the shot put.

 NEWS & NOTES

The 18th annual Triton Athletic Associates Golf Tournament is slated for Monday, June 13, at Fairbanks Ranch Country Club in Rancho Santa Fe.For more information on foursomes or sponsorships call (858) 534-8460.

--Compiled from press releases issued by the UCSD sports information office