LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego baseball tallied five runs in the ninth inning to earn a walk off victory over Seattle, 8-7, on Friday evening at Triton Ballpark.
The Tritons (1-0) were led by
Matt Halbach who finished 2-for-5 with a run scored and four RBI, all of which came in the eighth and ninth innings.
Michael Fuhrman,
Marc Filia,
Austin Smith and
Emiliano Gonzalez all batted in a run for UC San Diego.
Sam Hasegawa (1-0) was the winning pitcher of record for the Tritons, closing out the ninth.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Seattle (0-1) got on the board first, putting up two runs in the top of the first inning with back-to-back RBI singles. The Tritons answered in the bottom of the inning with a sac-fly from
Marc Filia that scored
Crew Robinson, but UC San Diego still trailed 2-1 despite loading the bases.
The Redhawks put up another run in the second and seventh innings, before a 3-run eighth inning gave Seattle the commanding 7-1 lead.
In the bottom of the inning, with runners on second and third, Halbach drilled a two-out RBI single to left field to clear the bases and make it 7-3.
After holding the Redhawks scoreless in the top of the ninth, the Tritons loaded the bases for
Austin Smith's RBI single on a 3-2 count to score
Jalen Smith from third. In the next at bat, Halbach came up clutch again with an RBI double to center that scored Filia and
Luke Glascoe to make it a one-run game.
UC San Diego loaded the bases again and
Emiliano Gonzalez drew a four-pitch walk to bring in the tying run, A. Smith. On a 3-1 count, Fuhrman drew the third-straight walk to force in the winning run and seal the comeback for the Tritons on opening day.
QUOTABLE
"Today it was just really cool to see a ton of guys in their first college games," said UC San Diego head coach
Eric Newman. "Seeing
Matthew Dalquist, I thought he pitched really well for us—six innings from a freshman. He was a little unlucky in the first inning, some of the hits that they got and we just weren't able to make the plays behind him. And seeing Matthew Halbach get up there in his last two at-bats and drive in four runs for us was huge. He had some great at-bats. Good to see
Joey Soberon out there for the first time and
Sam Hasegawa. We threw three freshmen in that game and there were some lumps, there were some things that we'd like to do better—and we will—but I'm just really proud of the group for hanging in there and staying with it.
You know, down 7-1, as a coach you try to keep it in perspective and see what happens. It felt like we were right there all game long, we were creating opportunities. So we said just keep creating opportunities and let's see what happens and it worked out for us so that was great to see."
TRITON TIDBITS
- The Tritons picked up right where they left off, ending the 2021 season with a walk-off and beginning 2022 the same way.
- Starting pitcher Matthew Dalquist (Fr., RHP) went 6.0 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, with four strikeouts and one walk.
- UC San Diego scored seven of their eight runs in the eighth and ninth innings to complete the comeback.
- Freshman Matt Halbach came up clutch for the Tritons with four RBI on two hits, coming in the eighth and ninth innings.
UP NEXT
The Tritons will continue the four-game series with Seattle on Saturday with a double-header beginning at 1 p.m. PT. The second game will begin 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first. Live statistics will be available for both games via UCSDTritons.com.
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 has begun a new era 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 II and III 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 garnered 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 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
