UCSD Baseball, Softball Teams Claim CCAA Titles

The seventh-ranked UC San Diego baseball team swept its four-game series with Cal State San Bernardino to run its winning streak to 17 straight and in the process wrapped up its third consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) regular season title.

The Tritons (38-12, 29-11) will  seek their third straight  conference tournament title beginning  Thursday when they open the double-elimination CCAA Tournament at the University of Pacific in Stockton against Cal Poly Pomona (30-19) at 3 p.m. Chico State (29-18) and Sonoma State (33-17) will play at 7 p.m.

There will be three games on Friday at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., with the championship game set for Saturday at 2 p.m. A second game, if needed, will follow, with the winner earning the CCAA’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division II championship.

Tim Shibuya (10-3), UCSD’s all-time winningest pitcher, gave up just the one run on six hits over eight full innings in a 4-1 win over Cal State Bernardino on Thursday as he won his 39th career game.

The Wyoming native, who's won his last four starts, struck out six batters and walked just one. Shibuya lowered his ERA from 2.27 to 2.17 with the performance. He leads the league in wins, strikeouts and innings pitched.

On Friday, the Tritons clinched their title as they beat CSUSB 10-4 on Senior Night at Triton Ballpark. Infielder Blake Tagmyer had five RBIs.

Senior right-hander Guido Knudson (8-3) won his fifth start in a row as he gave up four runs (three earned) on nine hits over six innings. He struck out three and walked one. Justin Burns, Tony York and senior Eric Abraham threw a scoreless inning each to close out the game.
 
Eight Tritons accounted for UCSD's 12 hits. Center fielder Danny Susdorf, Tagmyer, Kyle Saul and Matt Hubbard all had two hits apiece. Tagmyer, senior infielder Evan Kehoe, senior outfielder Aaron Bauman and DH Nick La Face each scored twice.
 
It was the final regular-season home contest for Tritons Taylor Austin (pitcher), Grant Bauer (infielder), Michael Benton (catcher), Nick Hom (infielder), Kellen Lee (catcher), Tim Shibuya (pitcher) and Daniel Simmons (pitcher). Lee started at catcher while Bauer, Benton and Hom entered the game late as replacements.

SOFTBALL

The 16th-ranked UC San Diego softball team, still basking in the glow of its first-ever CCAA regular-season championship, will open play in the NCAA Division II championship at the West Regional in Chico on Friday.

The Tritons (36-13), the No. 1 seed, will face No. 8 Central Washington (33-14) at noon with No. 4 host Chico State (29-17) meeting No. 5 Western Washington (36-14) at 2:30 p.m.

The double-elimination tournament will continue with three games Saturday at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. The championship game is on Sunday at 11 a.m., with an if-necessary contest scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

Central Washington won its second straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship and is making its second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championships. The Wildcats set school and GNAC records with 70 home runs this season.

UCSD, after missing the postseason in 2010, will be making its fifth championship appearance at the NCAA Division II level. The Tritons’ 34 wins during the regular season match the school record and the team set a school record for the highest win percentage (.755) since moving to Division II.

The Tritons are 2-8 in NCAA games since 2001, going 1-2 in their last appearance in 2009.

Defending national champion Hawaii Pacific (37-10) earned the No. 2 seed and will host the second half of the West Regional competition. HPU will open play against No. 7 Cal State San Bernardino (32-22), which received an at-large bid. No. 3 Sonoma State (36-20) and No. 6 Dixie State (33-12) are set to face each other in the opening round in Kaneohe.

The winner of each site will collide at the Super Regionals May 20-21 to determine the champion of the West Region and decide which will be one of the eight teams competing in the national championships May 26-May 30 in Salem, VA.

TRACK & FIELD

UC San Diego track and field teams both finished in the top three in the final team standings at the 2011 California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships at Cal State Stanislaus' Al Brenda Track on Saturday in Turlock.

The Triton women won a total of five events on the final day to finish in second place for the second year in a row, while the men also scored big points and made a late charge to finish in third place.
 
Chico State was once again the team to beat as the Wildcats swept both the men's and women's competitions for the second consecutive season. The Chico men finished with a total of 237 points en route to the program's eighth consecutive title, while the women tallied 210 points to earn a second straight CCAA crown.
 
UCSD's women, which saw their run of five consecutive conference titles come to an end with a narrow loss to Chico State in La Jolla last season, finished with 176 points in 21 events this year, coming in just 34 points shy of the champion Wildcats.
 
The Tritons finished in second place comfortably, maintaining a 60-point advantage over third place Cal State L.A. in the final standings. San Francisco State tallied 99 points to finish fourth, while Cal State Dominguez Hills was fifth with 94 and Cal Poly Pomona was sixth with 60.
 
On the men's side, Cal State L.A. finished second with 143 points, narrowly holding off UCSD, which had 141.5. Cal Poly Pomona was fourth with 135, followed by Cal State Stanislaus and Humboldt State with 97.5 and 59, respectively.
 
Kelly Fogarty was one of many standouts for the Tritons on Saturday, successfully defending her 2010 CCAA titles in both the 100 and 200. After clocking in at 11.67 in the prelims of the 100 on Friday, she came back with a winning time of 11.65 to beat out four speedsters from Cal State Dominguez Hills in the final.
 
She had a similar performance in the 200, saving her best run of the weekend for when it mattered most and crossing the finish line in 23.92 to earn her second championship of the day. The senior from Danville, who added to her haul as a member of the second place women's 4x100 relay team with Bailey Weaver, Kathleen Hitchens and Jacqueline Rose, was named the Co-Athlete of the Meet for her efforts.
 
After taking home conference titles in both the heptathlon and women's long jump on Friday, senior Stephanie LeFever added another individual victory to her impressive resume on Saturday, winning the women's triple jump with a leap of 39'3". Teammate Erin Langford was also an All-CCAA finisher in the event, placing third at 38'7.5".
 
Deyna Roberson was another star for the Triton women, winning her first-career CCAA title in the 400 hurdles with an excellent time of 61.76. After redshirting in 2010, the local San Diego product picked up the event just this season and clearly found her niche. Lauren Irish finished second in the high hurdles at 62.18.
 
Senior Theresa Richards recorded another victory in the women's javelin, hurling for a mark of 145'11". Her throw was over three inches better from her first place toss at the conference meet a year ago. Teammate Jessica Miklaski was second in the event with a final throw of 136'1", while LeFever was third at 115'7".
 
Roberson, LeFever, Langford, Miklaski and Irish all set new or improved NCAA marks on the day.
 
On the men's side, senior Jesse Morrill had the biggest highlight of the day, finishing first in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a stellar time of 9:03.19. Racing alone in his heat, the Huntington Beach native still managed to out-pace the rest of the field and earned a NCAA provisional qualifier in the process.
 
Junior Nick Howe won a third consecutive CCAA Championship in the men's javelin with a throw of 220'2", while also placing second in the high jump after clearing 6'4.25". That last mark is especially impressive considering that the standout thrower just began jumping this season.
 
After setting a new school record in the preliminaries of the 100 on Friday, junior Ka Wai Ng finished second in his primary event on Saturday, landing at 47'6.25" in the triple jump. He wound up finishing fifth in the 100 at 10.93, which was a shade slower than his prelim time of 10.74.
 
Junior Tobi Haswell earned All-CCAA accolades in the 400 hurdles with a second place time of 53.82, while UCSD finished 2-3 in the shot put as Zach Nagengast and Ryan Eckert recorded respective marks of 50'1.25" and 48'6.25".
 
The Tritons will now head to Los Angeles for the Cal State L.A. Invitational this Saturday in their final tuneup before the NCAA Division II National Championships, which will also be held at Warrior Stadium in Turlock, May 26-28.

MEN’S TENNIS

The undefeated and ninth-ranked UC San Diego men’s tennis team (20-0) will play No. 13 Columbus State (17-4) Wednesday in the opening round match of the NCAA Division II Championships in Altamonte Spring, FL.

The winner of that first-round match will pair up with either Western New Mexico or West Virginia Wesleyan in round two on Thursday.

The semifinals are set for Friday with the finals on Saturday.

This will be UCSD’s 11th straight appearance in NCAA postseason play but it's the first time the team has reached the 16-team Finals since 2007.

MEN'S GOLF

Senior Keith Okasaki, who completed a spectacular showing at the NCAA Division II Central/West Regional last week, will be playing in the NCAA Division II Golf Championships May 16-20 in Florence, AL.

Okasaki finished in a two-way tie for fifth place following a final round 76 at the University of New Mexico Championships Golf Course.
  
Okasaki carded a 2-under-par 214 and as one of the top two individual finishers not competing with a team, earned a trip to the NCAA Championship Finals.
  
Representing UC San Diego in regional competition for the third consecutive season, Okasaki began the final day in New Mexico atop the leaderboard after firing a 68 and 70 in the opening two rounds. He slipped out of medalist contention with his 76 last Wednesday, but still finished as the top individual golfer in the tournament and earned a chance to compete for a national title.
  
Cal State Monterey Bay's John Jackson won the individual title at 8-under 208 following a final round 67. He finished with a four-stroke lead over Blake Snyder of Hawaii-Hilo, who came in at 212. Sonoma State's Janssen Todd and CSUMB's Dylan Jackson finished tied for third at 213. Todd had the best individual round of the day with a 65.
 
Okasaki shared fifth place with Gavin Lyons of Fort Lewis College, while Cal State Dominguez Hills' Ryan Indovina was one of four players tied for seventh at 1-under. Indovina will join Okasaki as the other Central/West Regional individual in the finals.
 
Okasaki's 214 was his best three-round total of the season, eclipsing his 1-over 217 at the CCAA Championships last month. The Sacramento native has come on strong lately, lowering his score in each of the last four tournaments.

WOMEN’S WATER POLO

The UC San Diego women’s water polo team (17-18) will make its first appearance in the NCAA Championship on Fridayin the a first-round match against No. 2 ranked Cal at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

The Tritons earned one of four automatic bids to the eight-team field last week by beating Loyola Marymount, 13-11, to win its first Western Water Polo Association conference tournament title.

Cal has won 12 of its last 13 games, including the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament Championship.

UCSD is 11-7 all-time against Cal. The Bears took down the Tritons in the most recent contests between the two squads, 17-5, on April 11, 2010.

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