LA JOLLA, Calif. - The No. 1 ranked UC San Diego baseball team (45-6) looks to repeat at the 2010 California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament on May 6-8 at Klein Family Field in Stockton on the University of the Pacific campus. The Tritons begin action on Thursday when it faces No. 29 Chico State (34-16) at 7:00 p.m. The other match-up will feature No. 25 Cal State Dominguez Hills (37-16) vs. Cal State San Bernardino (29-15) at 3:00 p.m. The Tritons will be aiming for their third CCAA Tournament title after winning it in 2005 and 2009. This is UCSD's seventh consecutive trip to the conference tournament.
Chico State is making its conference high 11th trip to the CCAA tournament. This is Cal State Dominguez Hills third trip to the CCAA tourney and second consecutive. Cal State San Bernardino is making its fifth trip to the CCAA tourney, with its last appearance in 2005.
The Tritons went 2-2 against Chico State at Triton Ballpark. Chico State took the first two games by scores of 10-9 and 9-6 in 11 innings. The Tritons won the final two games by scores of 4-3 and 8-7.
UCSD faced Cal State San Bernardino on April 1-3, splitting at CSUSB, losing the first game 4-3 and winning the second game 14-7. At Triton Ballpark, UCSD won 12-1 and lost a 3-2 decision.
UCSD swept Cal State Dominguez Hills by scores of 5-2, 10-1, 21-3 and 9-1.
Chico State is the second best hitting team in the conference with a .334 team average. The Wildcats are paced by Michael Murphy and is .380 average, 73 hits and 110 total bases. Johnny Hay is hitting .368 with a team-high 11 homeruns and 56 RBI. Jackson Evans is hitting .351 with a team-high 13 stolen bases.
On the mound, the Wildcats are led by Michael Gleason with his 7-1 record and 2.82 ERA. Gleason has struck out 82 hitters in 83 innings, holding opponents to a .239 average. Casey Edelbrock began the year as the closer, but has since moved into the starting rotation. Edelbrock is 5-3 with a 2.53 ERA, holding opponents to a .226 average. As a team, Chico State has a 4.53 ERA and holds opponents to a .286 average.
Chico State enters the CCAA tourney having won seven straight games. Last week CSUC swept Cal State Monterey Bay.
UC San Diego enters the week having won 11 straight games, including a four-game sweep at San Francisco State last week. The wins improved UCSD's road record to 19-1.
UCSD leads the CCAA in hitting with a .377 team average. Brandon Gregorich leads several offensive stars for UCSD with his .468 average and school single-season records in hits (87), doubles (24) and RBI (75). Gregorich is also tied for the national lead in sac fly RBI's with 10 and his batting average ranks sixth in the nation.
Aaron Bauman leads the Tritons in on-base percentage with his .564 average. Bauman is second on the team in hitting with a .426 average.
Vance Albitz has scored a single-season school record 64 runs to go with his .360 average.
Gregorich, Bauman, Kellen Lee, Kyle Saul and Evan Kehoe enter the postseason tied for the team lead in homeruns with seven apiece.
On the mound, UCSD has a team ERA of 3.14. UCSD has several aces, led by Tim Shibuya who is 10-2 with a 2.06 ERA. Shibuya has thrown four complete-games and is tied for the team lead with 63 strikeouts. Matt Rossman is 9-0 with a 2.10 ERA, holding opponents to a .233 average. Kirby St. John is 10-1 with a 4.04 ERA and Guido Knudson is 8-2 with a 3.86 ERA.
In the bullpen, Daniel Simmons is 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA and two saves, while Elias Tuma is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA and three saves.
In last year's CCAA Tournament, the Tritons defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills 2-1, and Sonoma State by scores of 16-1 and 8-7 in the title game.
