CHICO, Calif. – The 11th-ranked UC San Diego baseball team took the lead for good in the bottom of the seventh on a three-run homerun by Garrett Imeson in UCSD’s 5-3 win over No. 25 Western Oregon during the first day of the NCAA Championship West Region Tournament in Chico. The Tritons advance to play the winner of the Chico State vs. Cal State Stanislaus match-up, tomorrow at 7 pm.
Kirby St. John pitched 6.1 innings, allowing three runs and Tim Shibuya (8-1) earned the win. Keith Noe pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th save of the year. With the win, UCSD improves to 42-16 while the Wolves drop to 39-18. Western Oregon will take on Nebraska-Kearney Friday at 11 a.m. in an elimination game.
Imeson finished the day going 2-for-4 with three RBI, including the go-ahead three-run homerun with two outs in the seventh. Vance Albitz, Evan Kehoe and James Ferguson all recorded two hits on the afternoon.
Western Oregon got on the board first in the second inning, thanks to a solo homerun by Taylor Mieras.
Garrett Imeson led off the UCSD second with a single up the middle. Tim Mort followed with an infield single on a hit-and-run play to put two runners on. After a caught stealing, Michael Benton single through the left side to put runners on the corners with one out. The next two Tritons could not get the run home and the score remained 1-0 WOU through two.
With one out in the UCSD fifth, James Ferguson homered to center field, tying the game at 1-1. With two outs and a runner on third, Cantele drew a walk and Evan Kehoe came through with an RBI single, giving UCSD its first lead at 2-1.
In the WOU seventh, Tyson Nelson doubled to left leading off. Mieras followed with a single to right to put runners on the corners with no outs. With one out, Joe Pratt singled to center, tying the game at 2-2. The Wolves retook the lead on a bunt single 3-2. With runners on second and third, Tim Shibuya retired the next two Wolves to keep the score at 3-2 WOU.
The Tritons put two on with two outs in the seventh inning. Imeson hit the go-ahead three-run homerun on an 0-2 pitch, giving UCSD a 5-3 lead. The homerun bounced off the top of the wall and bounced over the fence.