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<p>BASEBALL ‘mdash; With two games under their belt, the No. 2 Tritons will take a 2-0 record into their first four-game set of the year this weekend. Coming off a season in which they won a program-record 43 games and made it to the NCAA West Regional semifinals, the Tritons are looking to build on their previous success and advance further in the tournament.</p>
<p> Picked to finish second in the California Collegiate Athletic Association in a preseason poll, UCSD has high expectations for its 2009 campaign. The Tritons return four out of their five 2008 ABCA/Rawlings All-West Region honorees in senior second baseman Garrett Imeson, junior pitcher Kirby St. John, sophomore pitcher Tim Shibuya and junior shortstop Vance Albitz. UCSD’s fiercest conference competition will be Sonoma State University and defending champion Chico State University ‘mdash; the only team that stood between UCSD and a first-place finish last season. All three teams finished within four points of each other, with the Tritons earning the most first-place votes.</p>
<p> ‘If you look back, there’s a little pattern with those three teams being at the top of the conference,’ head coach Dan O’Brien said. ‘I don’t think anybody’s surprised ‘mdash; we’re all pretty evenly matched. It’ll all come down to who plays better baseball.’</p>
<p> Shibuya showed no signs of a sophomore slump, picking up the win in the Tritons’ 4-1 victory over Point Loma Nazarene University on Feb. 4. The pitcher, who was used out of the bullpen in his freshman campaign, held the Sea Lions scoreless over 6.2 innings in the first start of his collegiate career.</p>
<p> ‘Tim is in a new role starting this season and he did a really great job,’ St. John said. ‘He has the right mentality and is definitely a competitor with a ton of skills. I think he’s going to have a great year for us and help out our starting rotation.’</p>
<p> With Shibuya dealing on the mound, the Triton offense went to work in the third inning, converting a defensive miscue from Point Loma Nazarene into the first run of the game for UCSD. With one out in the bottom of the third, junior outfielder Chris Fung reached first on an error to get the inning started for the Tritons. UCSD then played small ball to manufacture its first run, using bunts from junior outfielder Robert Sedin and Imeson to score Fung and take a 1-0 lead.</p>
<p> The top of the fourth started out shaky for the Tritons as Shibuya hit the first Sea Lion of the inning, and the second batter reached on an error by Albitz, setting up for senior utility Travis McCleary’s single, which loaded the bases with no outs. Shibuya pitched himself out of the jam, striking out the next two Sea Lions and getting the third on a groundout to preserve UCSD’s lead. </p>
<p> The Tritons manufactured another run in their half of the fourth after a senior first baseman Matt Cantele double to start off the inning. Cantele advanced to third on a groundout and came around to score on a sacfly from senior outfielder Tim Mort, giving UCSD a 2-0 lead. The Tritons added on a run as Evan Kehoe got UCSD its first RBI hit on a homerun to center field in the sixth inning, and tacked on its final score with an RBI double from Robert Sedin that scored sophomore outfielder Kyle Saul.</p>
<p> The Sea Lions earned their only run of the game against the Triton bullpen, hitting a leadoff homerun in the eighth inning off redshirt junior Sean Greer. <br /> The victory over Point Loma Nazarene came after UCSD’s opening day victory over another cross-town rival, San Diego Christian College, on Feb. 1 at Triton Baseball Field. This time, it was the relief pitching that came up big for the Tritons in their 9-6 win. <br /> ‘I think the bullpen is very strong,’ Greer said. ‘If the starters can get us into the sixth inning with the lead or a tie, we have guys in the bullpen that can throw really well.’</p>
<p> A leadoff walk by Cantele started a big second inning for the Tritons, who advanced to third base off a double from Kehoe with no outs. <br /> Mort delivered the big blow, connecting on a two-run single that scored Cantele and Kehoe. After UCSD loaded the bases, Sedin flied out to centerfield, driving in Mort. </p>
<p> The Hawks used their speed on the basepaths to score an unearned run in the fourth inning, cutting the Tritons’ lead to 3-1. However, San Diego Christian did most of its damage in the fifth inning, putting a crooked number up on the scoreboard. A UCSD error and a hit batsman by Triton starter St. John put two Hawks on with no one out. A single from San Diego Christian’ sophomore outfielder Ryan Inverso drove in a run and a three-run bomb from freshman outfielder Chris Brard gave the Hawks a 4-3 advantage.</p>
<p> The Tritons slugged their way out of the deficit in UCSD’s half of the inning ‘mdash; Imeson led off with a homerun and Mort added an RBI double to regain the lead. Redshirt junior Matt Rossman then started off four innings of one-run baseball by the Tritons’ bullpen, taking over for starter St. John in the sixth. </p>
<p> UCSD gained some breathing room in the sixth inning when the Tritons used just two hits to score three runs. The bullpen ‘mdash; with strong pitching from Rossman, senior Trevor Decker, Greer and junior Guido Knudson ‘mdash; held on for the Tritons, helping them earn the 9-6 win on opening day.</p>
<p> ‘We had a good showing in the first two games,’ St. John said. ‘There are a lot of positive things to look at ‘mdash; we pitched pretty well and found ways to win.’</p>
<p> After a series against Grand Canyon University and Academy of Art University were canceled due to poor weather, the Tritons return to action against Western Oregon in a four-game series Feb. 14 and Feb. 15 at home. The games are slated for 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. starts at Triton Baseball Field. UCSD will travel to face Cal State Monterey Bay, the team’s first conference competition of the season, from Feb. 20 to Feb. 22 in another four-game set.</p>
<p> Readers can contact Janani Sridharan at jsridhar@ucsd.edu.</p>
<p>” />#1.1374243:2047349911.jpg:021209baseball2:UCSD found success playing small ball in its first two games of the season</p>
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