CARY, N.C. – Mitch Hickey and two relievers combined on a five-hit shutout as No. 3 seed UC San Diego downed No. 6 seed Texas A&M University-Kingsville, 4-0, Sunday in a first-round game at the 2018 Division II Baseball Championship.

The championship is being held at the USA Baseball National Training Complex, and is being co-hosted by the Town of Cary and the University of Mount Olive.

Hickey (7-3) pitched the first six innings, giving up three hits, walking one and striking out six. Kyle Lucke worked the seventh and eighth, scattering a pair of hits while striking out three, and Cameron Kurz finished off the win by striking out the side in the ninth. 

Brandon Stewart produced two of UC San Diego’s six hits, a single to lead off the first and a double to start the fifth inning. Both hits turned into runs for the Tritons (43-15), the first on an RBI double by Tyler Durna and the second on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Alex Eliopulos.

Shay Whitcomb also added an RBI single in a two-run fifth inning for UCSD.

Jarred Taylor (5-1), the starter for the Javelinas (41-16), took the loss after giving up three runs, two of them earned, over the first four innings. Taylor gave up four hits, walked one and struck out four. Lee May Gonzalez worked two innings, giving up a run on one hit and one walk, and Seth Hubert tossed two scoreless innings, surrendering one hit.

Texas A&M-Kingsville was making the school’s first appearance ever in the championship, while the Tritons were making their fourth appearance in the finals. UC San Diego reached the title game last year, and has finished third or better in all three previous appearances on the national stage.

With the victory, the Tritons advance to a winner’s bracket game on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Javelinas will play an elimination game on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

QUOTES

UC San Diego

Head coach Eric Newman

“This type of baseball is going to come down to taking care of the ball, playing good defense, pitching. Mitch, Kyle and Cam did a great job (pitching), our defense was outstanding, and Brandon (Stewart) really did a nice job of getting us started, being a spark plug for us in both the first and fifth inning.”

“We had a chance to stretch that lead a little bit more. We’d like to be a little bit better than that next time. But I’m really proud of the guys. They really fought hard. We had tough at-bats all day long and our pitchers were really executing well.”

Starting pitcher Mitch Hickey

“Our pitching staff puts us in situations like this every day in practice. It’s not anything new. You might get a little more pre-game jitters, but we’re very well prepared for these kinds of situations.”

Outfielder Brandon Stewart

“Honestly, I’ve been struggling lately. But the guys have stayed behind me, giving me confidence up there. You’ve got to go up there loose and relaxed, and I just got it rolling from the start.”

Texas A&M-Kingsville

Head coach Jason Gonzalez

 “We had some opportunities. In this environment and on this stage, you have to cash in. Obviously, their pitchers did a great job. They controlled the strike zone. Those were some good arms that we faced today. As frustrating as it is, this is a learning experience for us. I was pleased that we had runners on, now we have to figure out how to get them in.”

“Uncharacteristically, our pitchers hit a couple of guys, so we were allowing some leadoff runners on that came back to hurt us a little bit.”

“Experience is a big key. You can’t downplay that at all. UC San Diego has been here before. They know what everything is about. We’re still feeling our way through it a little bit. I don’t think it was nerves. I do believe we were trying a little bit too hard.”

Third baseman Levi Zents

“We’ve just got to be more aggressive and attack pitches that are supposed to be hit.”