LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The 14th-ranked UC San Diego baseball team won 2-of-3 against Barry on Saturday at Triton Baseball Field. The Tritons defeated the Buccaneers 12-11 in the completion of Friday's game. Matt Cantele singled in the 11th-inning for the win. In the first game of the scheduled doubleheader, the Tritons scored 12 more runs and defeated Barry 12-4. Trevor Decker earned the win and Chris Franco and Evan Kehoe hit homeruns. In the second game of the doubleheader, Barry took advantage of three untimely UCSD errors and escaped with a 4-2 win in the seven-inning game.
After Franco was the only starter to go hitless in Friday's game, Franco responded by going 2-for-3 with a homerun in the next game. Kehoe has had a huge series going 8-for-10 in the series.
On Friday in the Barry first, Chris Leon hit a two-run homerun and Carlos Gomez hit a two-RBI double and the Bucs led 4-0 in the first.
With two outs in the UCSD first, Imeson hit a double, driving in two, cutting the Barry lead down to 4-2.
Trailing 5-2 in the fifth, Burke led off with a double to right center and Albitz singled to put runners on the corners. Tim Mort singled through the left side for an RBI and the Tritons trailed 5-3. With runners on second and third with one out, Barry got out of the inning.
Barry loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth inning but the Tritons got out without damage as Evan Kehoe hit relay man Justin Bono to the plate to get the runner for the third out and the score remained 5-3 Barry.
In the UCSD eighth with two outs, Benton singled, followed by an infield single by Bono. After a throwing error on the catcher scored a run for the Tritons, Burke came through with a two-out single, tying the game at 5-5.
In the ninth, Barry's Andrew Frezza hit a homerun to left, giving the Bucs a 6-5 lead. Barry tacked on five more runs as they batted around to lead 11-5.
The Tritons loaded the bases with one out in the ninth. Kyle Saul singled up the middle for two RBI, bring UCSD within 11-7. After Michael Benton walked to load the bases, the potential tying run came to the plate with one out. A wild pitch pulled UCSD within 11-8 and runners on second and third with still one out. Bono drew a walk to reload the bases. With two outs, Albitz singled up the middle for two RBI, putting runners on the corners and UCSD was within 11-10. Tim Mort came through with the two-out RBI, tying the game at 11-11 and runners were back on the corners. Cantele drew a walk to load the bases and the next UCSD batter grounded into a fielders choice, ending the ninth tied at 11-11.
In the bottom of the 11th, Bono walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With one out, Albitz was intentionally walked to set up the force with runners on first and second. The Tritons went on to perfect a double steal to take away the force, but an infield ground ball held the runners for the second out. Cantele then came through with the game-winning two-out single to right field, giving the Tritons the 12-11 win.
Guido Knudson (2-1) earned the victory, pitching the last two scoreless frames.
The Tritons got on the board first in the first game of the doubleheader as Franco hit an RBI single up the middle. With two outs, Kehoe delivered the big blast, a three-run homerun clearing the bases and the Tritons led 4-0 after the first.
In the UCSD second, Albitz hit a sac fly RBI for UCSD's 5-1 lead.
In the UCSD third, the Tritons loaded the bases with no outs and Kehoe hit a sac fly RBI. Benton followed with a squeeze for another sac RBI and UCSD led 7-0 through three.
After Barry scored two runs in the fourth, Franco hit a two-run homerun for the Tritons in the fifth, giving UCSD a 9-2 lead. Benton hit an RBI groundout for the Tritons' 10th run.
UCSD went on to cruise to the 12-4 win. Trevor Decker earned the victory, improving to 2-0 on the season.
The Tritons took the lead 1-0 in the first inning of the second game of the doubleheader on an RBI groundout by Franco.
Barry scored an unearned run in the second frame to tie the game at 1-1.
In the UCSD third, Mort singled, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Franco hit a sac fly to center, giving the Tritons the 2-1 lead.
In the Barry sixth, John Servidio singled and advanced to third on an errant throw with no outs. Joel Keefe singled, tying the game at 2-2. With one out and the bases loaded, Keith Noe entered and got a force at the plate for the second out. A UCSD error on the potential third out of the inning allowed the go-ahead run to score for the Bucs at 3-2. Barry added another unearned run in the inning and led 4-2, which proved to be the final as Andrew Koubek earned the win and Aaron Main recorded the save.
The teams will return to the field on Sunday for the series finale. First pitch is slated for 12:00 p.m. at Triton Baseball Field.
