LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The UC San Diego baseball team pounded out 14 hits en route to a 9-3 win over 5th-ranked Cal State L.A. on Friday afternoon at Triton Baseball Field. With CSULA leading 2-0 in the fifth, UCSD scored four times in the bottom half of the inning, aided by a two-run homerun by Matt Lawson. The Tritons would add two in the seventh and three in the eighth, as Chris Franco delivered a two-run homerun for the insurance runs. Trevor Decker pitched five-plus innings for the win (8-1), while Todd Gimenez and Derek Barham pitched well in relief. With the win, UCSD improves to 35-19, 24-10 CCAA, while CSULA drops to 37-12-1, 25-9 CCAA.
Matt Winkleman led off the CSULA third with a double to left and advanced to third on Jacinto Rivera's sac bunt. With one out and runners on the corners, Adam Klein hit an RBI single. With the bases loaded, the Tritons got the CCAA's top hitter to hit into a double play to end the inning with CSULA leading 1-0.
With two outs in the CSULA fifth, Jeff Carroll delivered an RBI single to put the Golden Eagles ahead 2-0.
Bryan Silverman led off the Triton fifth with a double to right center, followed by Jonathan Erickson making it two in a row, driving in Silverman to bring UCSD within 2-1. Vance Albitz then got the runner over with a deep fly to left. With a new CSULA pitcher in the game, Matt Lawson delivered a two-run homerun to left center, giving UCSD a 3-2 lead. Garrett Imeson followed with a walk and Cantele reached on an error. David Morehead singled through the left side for an RBI and the 4-2 lead. UCSD would load the bases, but CSULA came up with a double play ball to end the inning with the Tritons ahead 4-2.
CSULA's Hernandez doubled, leading off the sixth and the next batter reached on a fielders choice. With Todd Gimenez pitching, the next CSULA batter grounded into a double play and the lead runner took third. CSULA's next batter grounded out tot third to end the threat.
Silverman led off the UCSD sixth with a single through the left side. With one out, Albitz put runners on the corners with a single to right field. With two outs, UCSD loaded the bases but could not push across the run as the score remained 4-2 UCSD.
In the UCSD seventh, Morehead and Franco led off with back-to-back singles and John Roth was hit to load the bases with no outs. Silverman hit a sac fly to center, scoring Morehead for the 5-2 lead. Erickson singled to the shortstop for an RBI and UCSD was up 6-2.
In the CSULA eighth, Hernandez hit his third double of the game, putting runners on second and third with one out. Fernando Franco hit a sac fly to right, driving in a run make the score 6-3.
With two outs in the UCSD eighth, Franco homered to right field, a two-run homerun, giving the Tritons an 8-3 lead. With still two outs, Roth and Silverman hit back-to-back doubles, and UCSD was up 9-3.
UCSD's Silverman and Franco finished with three hits apiece. Erickson, Morehead and Lawson each added two hits.
The Tritons honored their seniors Mike Kearney, Jonathan Erickson, Chris Carl, Bryan Silverman, John Roth, Matt Lawson, Todd Gimenez and David Morehead in a brief ceremony before first pitch.
UCSD is back in action on Saturday with a doubleheader at Reeder Field on the Cal State L.A. campus. First pitch of the first game is slated for 12:00 p.m.
