BOX SCORE UC San Diego 6, Sonoma State 0  --  Box Score  |  Video Highlights & Post-Game Interviews

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Garrett Schwartz recorded a pair of hits to lead Sonoma State offensively, however, the rest of the lineup managed just two other hits as top-seeded UC San Diego used timely hitting and stellar pitching to knock off the Seawolves, 6-0, in the opening round of the 2012 CCAA Baseball Championship Tournament at Triton Ballpark in La Jolla.  SSU (25-24) will now face elimination from here on out, beginning with a loser-out game against No. 3 seed Cal State San Bernardino on Friday at 11:00 a.m. 

UCSD (30-21) moves on to play second-seeded Chico State on Friday at 3:00 p.m. for the right to move on to Saturday's championship game.  The Wildcats defeated the Coyotes, 7-2 in the earlier game on Thursday.

The Tritons got on the board in their first at bat, thanks to an RBI single by Nick La Face, who laced a one-out double off the bottom of the wall in straight away center field.  Then, in the bottom of the fourth, UC San Diego piled on three more runs on a leadoff single, followed by three doubles from the next five batters to take a 4-0 lead over Sonoma State.

UCSD starter Trevor Scott, meanwhile, kept SSU off balance until the sixth inning when Even Warner drew a walk to lead off the inning just before Steven Filippi poked a ball through the right side, putting runners on first and second with no outs.  Scott would strikeout Garrett Gooselaw, then the Tritons would turn the ball over to Richard Kilbury out of the bullpen, who then retired the next two batters to keep the Seawolves off the scoreboard. 

Despite a leadoff single in the seventh by Schwartz, Sonoma State wouldn't get much else going offensively, ultimately sending itself to the brink of elimination.  The hosts would plate a run in bottom of the sixth and another run in the bottom of the seventh, which would account for the 6-0 final.

Sonoma State starter Paul Anaya (3-2) was tagged with the loss, surrendering the first four runs on two walks and seven hits in three and two-thirds innings pitched.  Glen Wallace worked three and a third innings, scattering four hits and the final two runs before Joey Van Cleave came in to face four batters in the eighth, allowing one hit, but also striking out a batter.  Schwartz, Filippi and Jeff Boulware supplied the only hits for the Seawolves in the game, two off the bat of Schwartz.

Scott (5-5) earned his fifth win of the season, giving up just three hits and three walks, but fanned eight Seawolf batters in five-plus innings.  Kilbury and Elias Tuma combined to allow just one additional hit in the final three and two-thirds innings.  Sam Michaels was perfect at the plate, going 4 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored and La Face added a 3 for 4 performance with a pair of RBI's and a run scored, combining for seven of the Tritons' 12 hits in the contest.

It will be do-or-die for Sonoma State on Friday.  It will play Cal State San Bernardino at 11:00 a.m. on Friday and the winner will advance to play the loser of the UC San Diego/Chico State game at 7:00 p.m. Friday evening in another loser-out game.  The Seawolves will need to win four straight games to win the CCAA tournament and snag the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, otherwise the 2012 season will come to an end.