The UCSD baseball team earned a 5-3 victory over Cal Baptist University on Feb. 17 in a non-conference game at Triton Baseball Stadium.
Guardian file
While the Feb. 12 through Feb. 14 series against Cal State Los Angeles was an offensive battle, the game against Cal Baptist was a pitcher’s duel.
Junior Triton Justin Allred threw six innings, giving up just two runs on four hits. His pitching effort earned him the victory, improving him to 2-1 on the season.
“To be a postseason ball club, you need to have depth on your pitching staff,” UCSD head coach Dan O’Brien said. “We have so many solid pitchers, and to have a fresh arm [Allred] throw six solid innings midweek coming off of a four-game weekend says a lot. I see this pitching staff getting stronger as the year goes on, and that’s exciting.”
Triton junior transfer pitcher Shlomo Lipetz came on in relief in the eighth inning to close the game and earn his third save of 2004.
For Cal Baptist, starting pitcher Oscar Serrato went three innings, giving up three runs on three hits. Serrato falls to 1-1 with the loss.
Offensively, UCSD put up two runs in the second inning and one run in the third to jump out to a 3-0 lead, while the Lancers put up goose eggs for the first five innings of the game. Cal Baptist put two runs on the board in the top of the sixth inning, but it would not be enough to overtake the Tritons, who scored two additional runs in the bottom of the seventh to secure the victory.
UCSD senior centerfielder Brett Burton, junior shortstop Keith Hernandez and junior leftfielder Craig King each had stolen bases in the game.
With a 9-4 record overall and a 2-2 California Collegiate Athletic Association record, the Tritons return to conference play this week with a four-game series against Cal State San Bernardino. The teams will play single games on Feb. 19 and Feb. 20 in San Bernardino, Calif., and then the series will move to San Diego where the Tritons and the Coyotes will play a doubleheader on Feb. 21 beginning at noon.
Cal State San Bernardino comes into the series with a 1-3 record in the CCAA, but are 5-5 overall. The Coyotes are ranked eighth in conference versus the fifth place Tritons.
