SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. ? The 16th-ranked UC San Diego baseball team won the first game of the doubleheader at Cal State San Bernardino 10-5 on Saturday at Arrowhead Credit Union Park. The Tritons won the second game 12-11, a seven-inning game which took nearly five hours to complete with a rain delay. In the first game, the Tritons batted around in both the second and third innings, scoring five runs in each frame. Kirby St. John recorded the win, striking out seven batters in his 3.2 innings of relief. Tim Mort had three RBI, while Vance Albitz had two RBI in the five-run third-inning. The Tritons and Coyotes will play a single game at Triton Baseball Field on Sunday with a first-pitch slated for 12:00 p.m.
The Tritons got on the board first, batting around in the second inning. Franco, Imeson and Kehoe singled to begin the inning, Kehoe's single resulting in an RBI. With one out, Michael Benton singled up the middle for an RBI and Tim Mort recorded a two-out two-run single later in the inning and the Tritons led 5-0 in the second.
In the bottom half of the second, Chris LeFay doubled with one-out for an RBI. Drew Valenzuela followed with an RBI double and CSUSB was within 5-2. A third consecutive double brought the Coyotes within 5-3. CSUSB would load the bases with two outs, but Knudson got the final out on a flyball, keeping a 5-3 advantage for the Tritons.
The Tritons loaded the bases with two outs in the third and Burke came through with a single to leftfield, scoring two runs and the Tritons led 7-3. Vance Albitz followed with a triple, driving in two more runs and UCSD led 9-3. Mort followed with an RBI single through the leftside, his third RBI of the game in just the third inning and UCSD held a 10-3 lead.
CSUSB scored two times in the fourth, and the Tritons were forced to go to their bullpen early as the Tritons led 10-5 through four.
St. John earned the win, improving to 1-0 on the season. He went 3.2 innings, striking out seven and allowing no runs. Tim Shibuya pitched the final two scoreless frames for UCSD.
