LA JOLLA, Calif. - Guido Knudson threw seven strong innings and Evan Kehoe pounded out four hits as the third-ranked UCSD baseball team defeated San Francisco State, 10-2, in the opening game of a CCAA doubleheader Saturday at Triton Ballpark. The Gators rebounded to take the second game, 5-3.
Knudson (3-1) pitched seven scoreless innings, scattering five hits and striking out seven while walking one. The senior right-hander retired the side in order in both the fifth and sixth innings.
Knudson got plenty of help from the offense as UCSD (14-5, 7-4 CCAA) laid down 14 hits. The help also came early as the Tritons unleashed five runs in the second inning. They went on to score three more in the fifth and a pair in the seventh.
Ten different Tritons had hits in the game.
Kehoe was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate and out-scored SFSU himself with three runs. The third baseman led off the second and third innings with a base hit and had singles in the fifth and seventh innings.
Centerfielder Kyle Saul went 2-for-5 with a run and three RBI and stole his ninth base of the season.
Leftfielder Aaron Bauman hit the second triple of his season as he laced one down the right field line that rolled for quite some time. Bauman tried to stretch it into an inside the park home run, but he was cut down at the plate on a fairly close play.
First baseman K.C. Rentfro was 1-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored.
San Francisco State totaled nine hits, three of those off the bat of shortstop Nic Gauldin. Starter Branden Petrangelo (2-2) gave up eight runs (six earned) on 10 hits over his five innings on the mound. He had no strikeouts and walked a pair.
The Gators scored single runs in the eighth and ninth innings. They loaded the bases in the ninth off reliever Eric Abraham, but he ended up getting out of it with just the one run.
SFSU left 10 runners on base.
Game two saw the Tritons' Daniel Simmons start on the mound. He faced nine batters and gave up three runs on four hits. After walking three and getting no outs in the second inning, Simmons was replaced with Justin Burns.
UCSD plated two runs in the third and another in the fifth to tie the score at 3-3.
In the top of the sixth, with Burns still on the mound, third baseman Michael Cala reached on a fielder's choice. With two outs, leftfielder Dustin Wold singled up the middle, moving Cala to second. Centerfielder Ivan Otsuka then produced an infield single, scoring Cala, the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run.
Burns fell to 1-1 with the loss. Matthew Cummins, who started the game as the designated hitter, came on to pitch in the fourth inning and earned the first win of his season.
Again, the Gators had trouble plating runners as they left nine men on base. UCSD stranded eight men of its own on base.
UCSD freshman shortstop Garrett Tuck had one hit in each game to up his team-best hit streak to nine games.
UCSD had won the previous ten match-ups with San Francisco State before falling Saturday. The last time the Gators won was on Apr. 27, 2008 in San Francisco.
The two squads play the fourth and final game of the series Sunday at 11 a.m. Tickets are available at Triton Ballpark. UCSD students are admitted free with a valid ID.
If you can't make it to the park, Sunday's game will have a live video stream and Live Stats.
- ucsdtritons.com -
