LA JOLLA, Calif.—After jumping out to an early lead, UC San Diego held on for a 12-9 victory over UC Irvine in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Triton Ballpark.
 
The Tritons (12-19, 4-5 Big West) tallied 14 hits in the contest, led by Austin Smith who finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI. Marc Filia went 2-for-4 with four RBI and two runs score, while Michael Fuhrman finished 2-for-4 with three RBI.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego got the scoring started early with an RBI double by Filia in the bottom of the first. The Triton offense then exploded for six more runs in the second, beginning with a solo homerun to left-center by Noah Sudyka—his second of the series. Jalen Smith and Austin Smith hit back-to-back RBI singles, before Fuhrman knocked a bases-loaded triple to make it 7-0. 
 
The Anteaters (19-11, 8-4 Big West) got one run back in the top of the third with an RBI double, but the Tritons answered immediately putting up five runs in the bottom of the inning. J. Smith got the scoring started with a sac-fly to score Brock Kleszcz, followed by A. Smith's second RBI single of the day. Filia then knocked his seventh homerun of the season, a three-run shot to right field, to make it 12-1, Tritons. 
 
UC Irvine continued to chip away at the Tritons' lead, scoring another run in the fourth, two in both the fifth and sixth and three more in the eighth. 
 
With runners on second and third with one out, the Anteaters brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth. Izaak Martinez forced a pop-up to first and struck out another Anteater looking to retire the side and maintain the three-run lead for UC San Diego.  
 
In the top of the ninth, Martinez and the Tritons retired UCI in order with a fouled pop-up to catcher Emiliano Gonzalez, a groundout to J. Smith at third and a final strikeout to seal the victory.
 
QUOTABLE
"Series was really hard fought with a good Irvine team," said UC San Diego head coach Eric Newman. "Obviously we would have liked to have gotten off to better starts the first 2 days but I really liked our determination those days."

"Today we got off to a great start as a team and we will look to build off the momentum from that and take it into this week of practice and Santa Barbara."

TRITON TIDBITS

• Starting pitcher Ryan Forcucci pitched 2.0 innings, allowing one hit with one walk and three strikeouts.
• Joey Soberon (1-0) earned the win after coming in to start the sixth inning and pitching 2.0 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits with one walk and one strikeout.
• Marc Filia, Michael Fuhrman, Austin Smith, Jalen Smith and Noah Sudyka recorded RBI in the contest.
• Five Tritons turned in multi-hit performances in the 14-hit outing, including Marc Filia, Michael Fuhrman, Brock Kleszcz, Austin Smith and Jalen Smith.
• Austin Smith extended his 27-game streak of reaching base for the Tritons, reaching 
• With the win, the Tritons improved to 2-5 in the Division I series with UC Irvine and avoided the season sweep, 1-2.

UP NEXT
UC San Diego will hit the road for a weekend series at UC Santa Barbara Thursday-Saturday. The games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and 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.