LA JOLLA, Calif. – The UC San Diego baseball team will play their first Big West conference game this weekend when they travel to Cal Poly. This will also be the first meeting between the two teams.
DETAILS
Games 13-16
UC San Diego (3-9, 0-0 BW) at Cal Poly (11-6, 3-1 BW)
Friday, March 26 at 3:00 pm
Saturday, March 27 at 12:00 and 3:30 pm (DH)
Sunday, March 28 at 1:00 pm
Baggett Stadium, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
BigWestTV
PROBABLE STARTING ROTATION
Thursday: UCSD RHP
Cameron Leonard vs Cal Poly RHP Drew Thorpe
Friday: UCSD RHP
Nic Gregson vs Cal Poly LHP Andrew Alvarez
Saturday: UCSD RHP
Brandon Weed vs Cal Poly LHP Travis Weston
Sunday: TBA vs TBA
ATTENDING THE GAMES
Per the current COVID-19 guidelines set by the state of California, the County of San Diego and the Big West Conference, fans are not permitted to attend home games at Triton Ballpark. For more information on UC San Diego ticket policies, visit
UCSDTritons.com/tickets.
COVERING THE TRITONS
Media members wishing to cover a UC San Diego game in-person at Triton Ballpark this season must notify a member of the Athletics Communication staff no later than 24 hours before the first pitch. All media members will need to complete a UC San Diego symptom screening form on the day of game prior to arriving on campus.
Following the conclusion of home events, a video highlight melt and video postgame interviews will be made available for media members to download.
LAST TIME OUT
UC San Diego split their series with Santa Clara 2-2. The series was defined by game four when the Tritons came back from being down 9-3 to win it thanks to a walk-off home run from
Blake Baumgartner. This was the first split series in the Triton's D1 era.
USE CREDIT UNION ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Ryan McNally was named Triton Student-Athlete of the Week on March 22. McNally matched a career high four hits in game four against Santa Clara and was involved with three double plays that weekend. Previously
, Anthony Lucchetti was named Triton Student-Athlete of the Week on March 1 after going 7-for-17 from the plate and adding four RBIs and three runs.
BIG WEST WEEKLY AWARDS
Senior
Cameron Leonard became the first Triton to earn Big West weekly recognition when he was named the Big West Pitcher of the Week on March 15. The Triton ace pitched 5.1 scoreless innings and did not give up a walk or run in his first D1 win. He allowed two hits and his six strikeouts were one shy of his career high.
PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE
The Tritons have shown good patience at the plate and have been walked 60 times.
Michael Fuhrman and
Blake FitzGerald lead the Tritons with seven walks. Fitzgerald recorded a career high three walks in game two against Santa Clara. The Tritons were highly successful with this in 2020 and finished 3
rd in the nation in Division II with 146 walks.
CHANGING IT UP IN THE INFIELD
Baumgartner made his first career start at third base on March 12 and remained there for the remainder of the series. Taking his place at first was Fitzgerald, who also made his first career start at first.
SCOUTING CAL POLY
The Mustangs sit at 11-6 on the season with key series wins against USC and UCLA. They started conference action last weekend by taking three of the four games in their series against CSUN. Brooks Lee, a preseason Big West Player of the Year selection by Perfect Game, leads the Big West in RBIs (28), ties for the lead in home runs (6) and already has two Big West Player of the Week awards in the season. Pitchers Drew Thorpe and Travis Weston rank third and fourth in the Big West in strikeouts with 31 and 29 on the season.
ON THE MOVE
After 20 seasons playing as an NCAA Division II team, the entire athletics program has begun a four-year transition to NCAA Division I, culminating in full DI status as a member of the
Big West Conference for the 2024-25 academic year. At that time, all sports will be eligible for conference and NCAA postseason play.
RECORD WATCH
Several Tritons will look to break into the career top ten or improve upon their standings in the record book. Here's a rundown:
- Blake Baumgartner sits in tenth in career home runs with 22. One more will put him in a tie for ninth with Chris Franco.
- Aaron Kim is not too far behind Baumgartner with 17 career home runs.
- Brandon Stewart has 32 stolen bases and will need 10 to crack the top ten. He had 14 in 2020.
- Michael Mitchell proved to be one of the best closer options for the Tritons a season ago and finished with four saves, giving him a total of five career saves. Five more will crack the top ten.
HISTORY OF SUCCESS
During UC San Diego's Division II era, the Tritons were consistently one of the top teams in the nation. In their 20 year history of Division II baseball, the Tritons played post season baseball 11 times and made the World Series five times. They were back-to-back-to-back NCAA West Regional Champions from 2017-19 and finished runner-up at the World Series in 2010 and 2017.
TRITONS IN THE PROS
In the 2020 MLB draft, the Tritons were one of three Division II teams with a player drafted when
Shay Whitcomb was selected by the Houston Astros in the fifth round and 160th. The Tritons have had 23 former players drafted by the MLB and five sign free agent contracts.
BIG WEST PRESEASON COACHES POLL
1. UC Santa Barbara – 119 (10)
2. Long Beach State – 96
3. UC Irvine – 95
4. Cal Poly – 94
5. Cal State Fullerton – 78
6. CSUN – 64 (1)
7. Hawai'i – 61
8. UC Davis – 39
9. UC San Diego – 33
10. UC Riverside – 29
11. CSU Bakersfield – 18
() First place votes
UC SAN DIEGO ON THE WORLDWIDE LEADER
Most UC San Diego home baseball, softball, men's and women's basketball games and men's and women's volleyball matches are broadcast live on ESPN3. For more information on where to watch UC San Diego baseball, visit
UCSDTritons.com/live.
UC SAN DIEGO ATHLETICS LAUNCHES WEEKLY PODCAST
As part of UC San Diego's transition to Division I, the Athletics Department launched a weekly podcast,
Tritoncast. Produced by UC San Diego Athletics Communications, Tritoncast features in-depth interviews with UC San Diego personalities including scholar-athletes, alums, coaches, and administrators. Triton fans will get an inside look at the UC San Diego Athletics Department as the program transitions to NCAA Division I and the Big West Conference. New episodes of Tritoncast are available each week on the most popular podcasting apps, including Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Audible, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, and Vurbl. In addition, each episode can be heard and downloaded on UCSDTritons.com. For individual show information and listen links, follow Tritoncast on Twitter
@Tritoncast.
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL
You can follow the Tritons on Facebook, Twitter and Instragram. The team's handle is UCSDbsb.
FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the
Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UC San Diego home athletic events, and much more!
GEAR
For the latest Triton apparel and accessories, visit the official team store of the Tritons
here.
UP NEXT
The Tritons will host Long Beach State for their first Big West Conference home series from April 2-4. Games on April 2 and 4 will be on ESPN3 and games on April 3 can be streamed on BigWestTv.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions III and II and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.
Return To Sport… Safely
In order for UC San Diego scholar-athletes to be permitted to return to training and competition safely and within federal, state, local, and university guidelines, the athletic department implemented a number of measures designed to complement and enhance the university's highly-successful Return To Learn program. Notable actions include being physically distanced when practical, including during out-of-season training sessions; wearing masks, except when undergoing physically strenuous exercise; and maintaining proper hygiene. Athletes, coaches, and staff are testing at a higher frequency than the campus population, teams adhere to CDC, NCAA, and Big West Conference guidelines, and department officials participate in regular meetings with conference and university-affiliated physicians and the UC San Diego emergency operations staff.
