LA JOLLA, Calif. – The No. 3 University of California, San Diego baseball team edged out San Francisco State 4-3 in game one of the four-game series. The Tritons improve to 11-3 and 6-3 in conference.
 
The Tritons were able to outhit the Gators 9-6. Anthony Lucchetti and Blake Baumgartner both went 2-for-3 at the plate with Lucchetti registering a double. Ryan McNally was 2-for-4.
 
In a game that featured the top two pitching staffs in the conference, Cameron Leonard came up on top for the Tritons. Leonard pitched a season high 112 pitches through 6.2 innings with five strikeouts in the win. Michael Mitchell struck out five out of the eight batters he faced in relief for the save.
 
The Gators got their first hit in the second inning with one out, but Richie Rios hit into a double play to end the inning.
 
Hitting first in the bottom of the third, Shay Whitcomb took the first pitch and hit it out of the park for his first homerun of the season to get the Tritons on the board. Aaron Kim hit the ball deep into center field for a two run RBI to give the Tritons a 3-0 lead.
 
With runners on first and second, Jackson Kritsch singled deep to center field drive a run in. Devon Hawks showed off his arm strength and threw the ball from deep center to get the runner out at third. The Gators would record three hits in the inning, but the Tritons would hold them to just the one run.
 
Brandon Stewart singled to get on first in the bottom of the fifth. He stole second, ran to third thanks to a miscue from the Gators' catcher and was driven home by Everett Lau to give the Tritons a 4-1 lead.
 
A double from Hare cut into the Tritons lead in the top of the seventh. Mitchell came into pitch and struck the next batter out to go into the bottom of the seventh with a 4-3 advantage. The Gators would only get one runner on base through the next two innings as Mitchell pitched lights out in relief.
 

Mitchell called game with this one. #GoTritons pic.twitter.com/odb4T5dui0

— UC San Diego Baseball (@UCSDbsb) February 29, 2020

The first game of the doubleheader on February 29 will start at 1 pm at Triton Ballpark.

About UC San Diego Athletics
With 30 national team championships, nearly 150 individual titles and the top student-athlete graduation rate among Division II institutions in the United States, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program annually ranks as one of the most successful in the country.  The Tritons sponsor 23 intercollegiate sport programs that compete on the NCAA Division I and II levels and, in summer 2020, will transition into full Division I status as a member of the Big West Conference.  UC San Diego student-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent.  A total of 82 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 37 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships.  In competition, more than 1,300 UC San Diego student-athletes have earned All-America honors.
 
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