LA JOLLA, Calif. - The No. 2 UC San Diego baseball team stifled a ninth inning rally by No. 17 Mesa State to hold on for a 7-6 victory Sunday at Triton Ballpark, giving the home team a win in all four games of the series.

Down 7-3 going into the ninth inning, Mesa State (0-4) struck for three runs off of three hits and a Triton error. Reliever Jeff Rauh, the fifth pitcher of the game for UC San Diego, surrendered the three runs but did get two outs in the inning, one on a ground ball to third, the other on a key strikeout. With two runners still on base, Elias Tuma came in and picked up his second save of the season as Zac Barger hit a dribbler in front of the plate and was thrown out.

"The guys did a great job," said head coach Dan O'Brien. "I just finished telling them I'm glad the other team made a run late. It gave us an opportunity to work on something - keeping your composure late in games when the other team's trying to make a comeback - and our guys did a phenomenol job."

UCSD (7-1) was lifted by a stellar offensive day by second baseman Blake Tagmyer. He went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, two RBI and a stolen base, finishing just a double shy of hitting for the cycle. Tagmyer's line drive home run to right field in the first inning was the first of his season and second for the Tritons this year.

"It's every hitters dream to hit for the cycle" said Tagmyer. "It was in the back of my mind, but when I got to the plate (for the final time), I was just trying to put a good swing on it and I didn't get it."

Left fielder Aaron Bauman and third baseman Evan Kehoe each had two hits, while catcher Kellen Lee knocked in a pair of runs. Bauman just missed his second home run of the year as the left handed batter stroked a double to left field that missed clearing the fence by about two feet. Lee, who missed the team's first seven games due to injury, had an RBI single in his first at-bat of the season.

Starter Greg Selarz (1-1) took the win for the Tritons as he threw 6.2 innings and surrendered just one run on seven hits.

"We have three great pitchers that threw before him (Selarz) and everybody talks about them and I think Selarz is just as good," said Tagmyer. "Having a complete rotation is gonna make us a great team and I think we're gonna sweep a lot of teams because of it."

Mesa State, which had 14 hits to UCSD's 12, got a solid performance out of right fielder Greg Anderson, who went 4-for-5 with two runs and two RBI. First baseman Dustin Fackrell had three hits and left fielder Jeff Popick recorded two RBI. The loss went to Maverick starter Josh Ogden (0-1), who gave up four runs on five hits through two innings.

Despite UCSD's first two batters of the game getting out, the Tritons managed to plate four runs in the first inning. Right fielder Kyle Saul walked and stole second before being driven home on a single by Kehoe. Tagmyer's long ball put UCSD up 3-0. First baseman Nick Hom was hit by a pitch and DH Michael Benton followed with a base hit. Lee's single up the middle gave the Tritons a 4-0 lead.

UCSD struck for a single run in the third before the Mavericks finally got on the board in the fourth. The Tritons added runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings to up their advantage to 7-1.

Mesa State actually began its comeback with two runs in the eighth inning. Second baseman Braden Box led off with a single and eventually scored on an infield single by Anderson. Anderson crossed the plate two batters later on a Popick base hit.

"It's like always, we just want to be a complete team," said O'Brien. "We don't need to be a flashy offense or just a big time offense that puts up a 20-spot, we just want to be able to execute and have quality at-bats and then be very solid and agressive on the bases. I think we were that all weekend long."

After eight non-conference games to start the season, UCSD will open its CCAA slate against Cal State East Bay Feb. 18-20 at Triton Ballpark. UC San Diego is looking for its third consecutive CCAA regular season and tournament titles.

Friday's series opener will be under the lights, starting at 6 p.m. Saturday's doubleheader begins at noon and Sunday's single game is set for 11 a.m. Tickets for all home games are available at Triton Ballpark one hour before first pitch. UCSD students are admitted free with a valid ID.