SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The No. 3 University of California, San Diego baseball took game one of its series with Cal State San Marcos at Cal State San Marcos Ballpark 12-3. The Tritons improve to 14-4 and 9-4 in conference play.
The reigning CCAA Player of the Week
Shay Whitcomb delivered at the plate with three hits including a solo home run.
Devon Hawks also went 3-for-5 from the plate and registered three RBIs.
Cameron Leonard picked up his third win of the season and pitched for six innings with five strikeouts and just two runs allowed. The Triton pitching staff did not allow a single walk. In comparison, San Marcos registered 11 walks.
The Triton fielders struggled early and recorded two errors and allowed four hits that led to Cal State San Marcos scoring a pair of runs in the first inning. The Cougars looked to increase the lead to 3-0, but
Ryan McNally was able to deliver a perfect throw to
Aaron Kim for the out at home plate.
UC San Diego's offense started clicking in the third inning.
Anthony Lucchetti hit down the middle for the first run of the day. Back to back players getting hit by pitches led to a Triton run.
Devon Hawks highlighted the inning with a two-run hit to give the Tritons a 4-2 lead.
Hawks' placed a perfect bunt, beat the ball to first and brought
Michael Fuhrman in in the fifth. In the bottom of the fifth, the Tritons elected for a double play and allowed a runner but closed out the inning with a strikeout to preserve the two run lead.
After singles from
Everett Lau and
Blake Baumgartner, the Cougar's pitching staff walked three straight players in the sixth inning and the Tritons went up 7-3.
Nick Kitzmann hit his first homerun of the season over the left field fence to go up 10-3 in the eighth. Whitcomb's solo shot put the Tritons up 11-3 in the ninth and an RBI walk gave the Tritons a 12-3 cushion to close out the game.
The Tritons will play game two at noon March 7 at Cal State San Marcos 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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