SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball fell to Big West leader UC Santa Barbara, 10-5, on Friday evening at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. With the loss, the Tritons fell to 0-2 in the weekend series.
 
Five different Tritons (12-21, 4-7 Big West) recorded an RBI in the contest, including Blake FitzGerald, Luke Glascoe, Matt Halbach, Ryan McNally and Austin Smith. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons threatened early, loading the bases in the top of the first. UC San Diego was unable to bring a run in, but broke through an inning later on a sac-fly from Luke Glascoe to take the early 1-0 lead. 
 
Noah Conlon faced one over the minimum through the first three innings, allowing just two hits and no runs with three strikeouts. The fourth inning was a different story as the Gauchos (23-8, 12-2 Big West) hung three runs on the board and added six more runs in the fifth and a run in the sixth to take a commanding 10-1 lead.
 
Austin Smith knocked an RBI double down the right field line in the seventh to make it 10-2, but the Tritons were unable to do any more damage in the inning. 
 
UC San Diego rallied one more time in the top of the ninth, scoring on a pinch-hit RBI single by Ryan McNally, a bases-loaded walk by Blake FitzGerald and a fielder's choice by Matt Halbach. The Tritons cut the deficit to 10-5 but were unable to come up with more, dropping game two and falling to 0-2 in the weekend series.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Starting pitcher Noah Conlon (3-6) pitched 4.0 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
• Blake FitzGerald, Luke Glascoe, Matt Halbach, Ryan McNally and Austin Smith recorded RBI in the contest.
• The Tritons stranded 10 runners on base, compared to five for the Gauchos in the contest.
• Austin Smith extended his 29-game streak of reaching base for the Tritons, reaching on an RBI double and a walk. 
• With the loss, the Tritons fell to 1-7 in the all-time (DI) series against UC Santa Barbara and 0-4 this season.

 UP NEXT
UC San Diego will wrap up the conference series with UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at 1 p.m. The game 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.