LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego baseball tallied three runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to secure a 9-3 victory over Seattle on Sunday afternoon at Triton Ballpark. With the victory, the Tritons earn the series win, 3-1, over the Redhawks to start the season.
 
The Tritons (3-1) were led by Anthony Lucchetti who finished the day 2-for-4, with five RBI, a run scored and a walk. Matt Halbach had another big game for UC San Diego, recording his first home run of the season—a 3-run go-ahead shot in the seventh. Austin Smith also went yard, with his second home run of the early season. Izaak Martinez (1-0)  was credited with the win for the Tritons, holding the Redhawks (1-3) scoreless through the final 2.1 innings with one hit and two strikeouts. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego got on the board first, scoring runs in the first and second innings on an RBI ground-out by Lucchetti and A. Smith's solo home run. The Tritons tacked on another run in the fifth on a Lucchetti RBI single to take the 3-0 lead.
 
Freshman Ryan Forcucci was dominant in his collegiate debut, pitching five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and tallying four strikeouts.
 
The Redhawks finally broke through in the seventh, scoring on a fielder's choice and a two-run home run to tie the game at 3-3. 
 
The Tritons immediately answered in the bottom of the inning with Halbach's three-run homer off the right field foul pole to retake the lead. UC San Diego tacked on three insurance runs in the eighth with Lucchetti's bases-clearing double to make it 9-3.
 
Martinez closed out the game with a 1-2-3 ninth, with the help of his defense, to secure the series win on opening weekend.
 

B7 | ?? Matt Halbach hits one off the foul pole and we've got our three-run lead back! ??

SEA: 3
??: 6
??: https://t.co/Esb04TcKMe#GoTritons pic.twitter.com/vzUu9yBk75

— UC San Diego Baseball (@UCSDbsb) February 20, 2022

QUOTABLE
"A really interesting weekend for us," said UC San Diego head coach Eric Newman. "We got a lot of guys in that we wanted to see play. Some good, some bad. Obviously, we're really excited to win the series. That's what we talked about today, going out there, that's an important thing for us to do. To take care of business. 
 
We had some unbelievable contributions from our freshmen this weekend. They're going to be really good. Ryan Forcucci today, Matt Halbach and Austin Smith all weekend. Good to see Nolan McCracken out there, Matt Dalquist on Friday. We have a lot of new players and getting those new players in to the game and seeing them contribute and get their feet wet is going to really bode well for us as we go forward this year."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Starting pitcher Ryan Forcucci (Fr., RHP) went 5.0 scoreless innings, allowing three hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
• UC San Diego continued to be clutch down the stretch, tallying three runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to secure the win. The Tritons scored 18 of their 42 runs in the final three innings of play throughout the series.
• Five Tritons including Michael Fuhrman, Emiliano Gonzalez, Matt Halbach, Anthony Lucchetti and Jalen Smith recorded a multi-hit game.
• UC San Diego's trio of freshmen starters (Gonzalez, Halbach, and A. Smith) combined for nearly half of the Tritons' offense with six of the15 hits and four of the nine runs.

UP NEXT
The Tritons will hit the road for their first midweek game, traveling to face USC on Tuesday at 6 p.m. PT. UC San Diego will then return to Triton Ballpark to host Washington for a four-game series beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. PT. Tuesday's game will be live streamed via usctrojans.com and Friday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Live statistics will be available 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.