LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 4th-ranked UC San Diego baseball team cruised to a doubleheader sweep against Cal State Monterey Bay in California Collegiate Athletic Association action on Friday afternoon at Triton Ballpark. UCSD won the first game 10-3 behind
Tim Shibuya's complete game.
Vance Albitz,
Kyle Saul and
Aaron Bauman all homered in the win. In the second game,
Guido Knudson pitched five shutout innings on one hit, in his first start of the season to earn the win.
Matt Hubbard and
Brandon Gregorich tallied a combined five RBI in the 9-2 win. "We did a great job of jumping on top early and keeping the momentum in our dugout all day," said head coach
Dan O'Brien.
With the wins, UCSD improves to 13-3, 4-2 CCAA while the Otters drop to 2-13, 1-9 CCAA.
In the first game, Shibuya (4-0) went nine innings, allowed six hits and one earned run. Shibuya added five strikeouts and walked none. The junior right hander did not allow a hit in the final three frames.
The Tritons scored three runs in the first inning and two more in the third to lead 5-0. Saul's homerun was a leadoff homerun in the third inning. Saul has four homeruns on the year, taking over the team lead.
In the first game, six Tritons had multi-hit games. Saul went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and one RBI. Michael Benton went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Robert Sedin, Gregorich, Bauman and Albitz added two hits apiece.
In game two of the doubleheader, Knudson was nearly perfect, taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning. A leadoff infield single to shortstop broke up the no-hit bid. Knudson (2-1) went five innings, allowed one hit, two walks and struck out four. Chris Brookey saw his first action of the season and Austin Hill pitched the final frame.
UCSD had 14 hits in the second game, seven of those hits coming in the six-run second inning. Saul had another three-hit game, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Bauman, Gregorich, Kellen Lee, Matt Hubbard and Sedin had two hits each.
Albitz added one hit in the second game, bringing his career total to 260 hits as a Triton. Albitz has now passed Bob Natal and is second on the UCSD all-time hits list. The all-time record of 306 was set last year by former Triton Garrett Imeson.
Pending weather, UC San Diego and Cal State Monterey Bay return to the field on Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. first pitch at Triton Ballpark.
