BASEBALL — A bottom of the ninth, bases-loaded walk to
junior All-American first-baseman Matt Cantele gave the No. 8 Tritons a 5-4
walk-off win in the series finale against No. 2 Sonoma State on April 20 that
salvaged a series split and move UCSD to within two games of the Seawolves for
first place in California Collegiate Athletic Association standings.

Cantele was already 2-for-4 with a homerun in the first
inning to open the scoring and stake the Tritons to a 1-0 lead, so it was
fitting that he end the game with an RBI walk.

“That was a good at-bat for him,” head coach Dan O’Brien
said. “Obviously the pitcher was struggling and Matt recognized that and did a
real good job of laying off some tough pitches.”

With eight games left against two of the CCAA’s worst teams, the Tritons have their sights on first place. (Andrew Ricci/Guardian)

UCSD needed walk-off heroics to salvage the split, after
winning the opener 7-4 on April 18 but dropping both games of a doubleheader
the next day by a combined score of 22-8.

The win was just what the Tritons wanted to open the series,
as the bats came alive in the seventh inning to score three runs and break a
4-4 tie. The Seawolves scored a run in both the first and second innings to
take a 2-0 lead, but the Tritons came back with three runs in the bottom of the
second to take their first lead. The 3-2 advantage would last until the sixth
inning, when Sonoma State
scored two runs, one on catcher Konrad Thieme’s second solo shot of the game.

UCSD responded in the bottom of the frame with a run after a
leadoff triple by junior rightfielder Tim Mort. After a pitching change, junior
centerfielder Nick Burke’s groundout to shortstop was enough for Mort to come
in and tie the game at four.

Freshman Tim Shibuya entered to relieve sophomore starting
pitcher Kirby St. John and promptly retired the Seawolves 1-2-3, two on strikeouts. Shibuya picked up the
win to improve to 7-0 when the Tritons scored three runs in the bottom of the
seventh and cruised to the victory. Shibuya also worked a scoreless eighth with
another two strikeouts and then gave way to senior closer Keith Noe, who picked
up his school-record 12th save.

“We were outstanding as a ballclub on Friday,” O’Brien said.
“I thought that if we maintained that kind of focus and played with that kind
of consistent baseball all weekend that we could make it a very special
weekend.”

After the crucial win, the Tritons were just one game back
of the Seawolves heading into the doubleheader. Unfortunately, after losing
both games on April 19, UCSD dropped back two games in the standings with only
two more series remaining before the start of the CCAA Tournament.

In the noon game,
the Triton pitching was disastrous, as all five arms that trotted out to the
mound could not escape without allowing a run, combining to issue 11 walks to
the surging Seawolves. Sonoma State
took a 4-2 lead after both offenses got on the board in the first inning and
added nine more runs in the fourth through eighth innings to cruise to the 13-2
win.

In the nightcap of the doubleheader, UCSD jumped out to an
early 4-0 lead after a four-run second inning, but saw it vanish as the
Seawolves came back with five runs in the top of the third. The Tritons added a
run in the bottom half to even the score at five each, but Sonoma State had
another big inning in the fourth, scoring four more runs to take a 9-5 lead.
UCSD would add one more run in the fifth inning but would be unable to muster
anything more, falling by a final of 9-6.

“I just think overall we were inconsistent throughout the
weekend,” O’Brien said. “We showed signs of greatness but if we expect to go
deep in the playoffs, we’re going to need to be much more consistent.”

With the win in the finale, however, UCSD improves to 36-11
overall and 20-8 in conference play. And although the Tritons have only eight
games to make up the difference in the standings with the Seawolves, the two
four-game series are against Cal State
Monterey Bay
and San Francisco State
University, the bottom two teams in
the CCAA standings. The Gators are currently last, having won only one
conference game, while the Otters sit in ninth with a CCAA record of 7-25.

[First place] is our focus,” O’Brien said. “We want to
finish at the top and I think our guys are hungry and I think they’re starting
to taste it.”