KEIZER, Ore. ? The 2nd-ranked UC San Diego baseball team fell behind 10-5 in the seventh-inning before scoring six unanswered runs to defeat Cal State Dominguez Hills 11-10 in the first game of the NCAA West Regional on Thursday afternoon at Volcanoes Stadium. Vance Albitz had a big two RBI double in the seventh inning and Kyle Saul tied the game in the seventh with a sac fly RBI. It was UCSD's offense that picked up the Triton pitching staff as Ryland MacFadyen earned the win and Guido Knudson earned the save, shutting out the Toros in the final two frames.
With the win, UCSD improves to 37-12, while the Toros drop to 34-22.
It was starting pitcher Tim Shibuya's shortest stint of the year, lasting just 4.1 innings. MacFadyen earned the win pitching 1.1 shutout innings, striking out three. Closer Knudson finished the game with a perfect ninth, striking out two.
“This was Shibuya's first bad start all season... and as we have done all year, when someone struggles, we have been able to pick them up,” said head coach Dan O'Brien. “After falling behind, this team continues to grind it out.”
On the offensive side, Evan Kehoe kept the Tritons in the game early with two, two-out RBI. Josh Tanner went 3-for-5 and drove in two, while Albitz and Kehoe also had two RBI each.
In the CSUDH first Carlos Leyva led off with a double off the left field wall and advanced to third on Kevin Pillar's ground out. Levya would score on Andrew Baslow's RBI groundout for the 1-0 lead.
In the UCSD first with two outs, Garrett Imeson walked and Brandon Gregorich singled to put runners on the corners. Evan Kehoe picked up a two-out RBI with a single to right field to tie the game at 1-1.
In the CSUDH second, John Skala hit an RBI double to center and the Toros took a 2-1 lead. The Toros added another before the final out to make it 3-1 CSUDH.
In the CSUDH third, Jon Alia hit a solo home run to right center and the Toros grabbed a 4-1 lead.
The Tritons got a run back in the third as Kehoe got another two-out RBI single and the CSUDH lead was cut to 4-2.
UCSD got its third two-out RBI as Josh Tanner hit an RBI double to left center to pull UCSD within 4-3. Imeson followed with a fly ball to right center that was dropped by the center fielder for an error and UCSD scored an unearned run to tie the game at 4-4.
In the CSUDH fifth, the Toros got the runs back and took a 6-4 lead to chase UCSD starter Tim Shibuya out of the game. Kirby St. John came on in relief and got UCSD out of the inning, leaving the bases loaded.
In the UCSD fifth, Kellen Lee singled up the middle to pull within 6-5, but the Tritons would strand runners at the corners.
The Toros broke the game open with four runs in the seventh to pull ahead 10-5.
The Tritons scored a run on a wild pitch and Vance Albitz doubled to the right center gap for two RBI, pulling UCSD within 10-8. Tanner followed with an RBI single to deep right field and the Tritons were within 10-9.
After Ryland MacFadyen pitched a 1-2-3 top of the eighth inning, Kehoe and Robert Sedin led off the UCSD eighth with back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners with no outs. Matt Cantele followed with a walk to load the bases. With one out, Kyle Saul hit a sac fly to right field to tie the game at 10-10. With runners on the corners with two outs, a passed ball allowed Saul to run home with the go ahead run at 11-10.
Knudson came in and struck out the first two batters he faced, before the final out was recorded on a diving catch to right field by Nick Burke to secure the win. The save was Knudson's 10th of the year.
UCSD is back in action on Friday at 6:00 p.m. in the winner's bracket game against Western Oregon. WOU defeated Sonoma State 3-1 on Thursday night.
