Abbott Moves Up and Keeps Winning

Kyle Abbott was a successful pitcher at UC San Diego for two years. But whether he could carry that success from the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. Division III Tritons to a Division I program was another question.

Abbott seems to have answered the question with ease after transferring from UCSD to Cal State Long Beach.

Abbott played his freshman and sophomore seasons at UCSD, helping the Tritons to the Division III World Series his freshman year. But after two years, Abbott decided to see if he could carry that success to the Division I level.

So far he hasn’t had too much trouble. Abbott, a 6-foot-5 left-hander, is 5-0 with a 1.70 earned-run average. Abbott has victories over Pepperdine (4-3), Arizona (8-6), Loyola Marymount (9-0), USD (11-5), and St. Mary’s (15-0).

“I watched a lot of Division I players on ESPN over the summer,” Abbott said. “I always thought I could do it, but I didn’t know how well I’d do.”

Abbott, from Mission Viejo, was 3-1 with two saves and a 1.70 ERA his freshman year as the Tritons advanced to the World Series for the first time. His sophomore year, Abbott was 5-1 with three saves and a 1.88 ERA.

He had to sit out a month during his sophomore season because he had insufficient academic units and he admitted he was struggling with his classes, carrying a 2.5 grade-point average.

Those factors and his performance last summer combined to help him decide to try the Division I level.

“I had a great summer league and that’s what convinced me,” said Abbott, who played in a summer league in Los Angeles with a number of Division I players.

But facing Division III hitters most of the season is different than going against Division I athletes.

“I wasn’t worried about it,” Abbott said. “The only thing keeping me from leaving was my friends. But I thought the opportunity to play was worth it.”

Baseball is nothing new to Abbott. His father, Larry, was a pitcher in the Oakland Athletics’ organization for seven years, reaching the triple-A level. Abbott also thought he would have a better chance at being drafted higher with good numbers from a Division I school as opposed to a Division III program.

U.S. International University’s Demetrius Laffitte finished his basketball season a little early, suffering a slight ligament tear in his right knee Saturday against San Diego State.

Laffitte, who played at Monte Vista High School, played at Cal State Long Beach and Grossmont College before transferring to USIU.

He had a fine junior year this season, leading the team in scoring and rebounding. Laffitte, a 6-5 forward, averaged 18.5 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. He also shot 55.4% from the field.

He averaged 10.4 rebounds during the season, the second-best total in school history. (Don Robinson averaged 11.8 in 1981-82.) His season shooting percentage of 55.4 was also second to Steve Frederick’s school-record 57.9 in 1983-84.

Guard Steve Smith set the single-season assist record with his first assist against San Diego State last week, finishing the season with 127. The record was 121 set by Joe Yezbak in 1986-87.

The University of San Diego men’s tennis team is ranked No. 21 nationally. Freshman Jose Luis Noriega is ranked No. 78, senior Mark Farren is No. 81 and junior Dan Mattera is No. 86 in the individual rankings. Noriega and senior David Stewart are the No. 32-ranked doubles team.

The UC San Diego women’s basketball team finished a record-setting year. The Tritons were 19-6, breaking the school record for victories set when the 1982-83 finished 17-9.