SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—In a back-and-forth battle that saw three ties, UC San Diego baseball fell just short, 8-7, to UC Santa Barabara on Saturday afternoon at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
 
 The Tritons (12-22, 4-8 Big West) were led by Jalen Smith who finished 3-for-4 with a homerun, three RBI and two runs scored—reaching base in all six of his plate appearances. Austin Smith went 2-for-5 with a two-run homerun and Brock Kleszcz finished 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos (24-8, 13-2 Big West) took an early 3-0 lead, scoring one run in the bottom of the first and two more in the second. 
 
UC San Diego stranded two runners in the first and one each in the second and third before breaking through in the fourth inning. Fuhrman brought in FitzGerald on an RBI double down the left field line, before advancing to third and scoring on two wild pitches to make it 3-2.
 
The Tritons tied the game in the fifth with a leadoff homerun by Jalen Smith, his third of the season. UCSB answered quickly, with a two-out solo homerun of their own in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead 4-3.
 
Jalen Smith delivered again in the sixth, bringing in a run from third on a fielder's choice to tie the game again at 4-4. The Gauchos responded in the bottom of the inning, forcing in a run with a bases-loaded walk but the Tritons were able to hold them to just one run. UCSB added another run in the seventh to take a 6-4 lead.
 
The Tritons tied the game again in the eighth with a two-run homerun to right field by Austin Smith—his third of the season. UCSB got the runs back in the bottom of the inning on a two-RBI double to regain the lead for the fourth time in the contest.
 
In the top of the ninth, Jalen Smith knocks an RBI single with two outs to bring UC San Diego within one but the rally ends with a ground-out to seal the win for UCSB.

QUOTABLE
"Tough series for us against a nationally ranked team," said UC San Diego head coach Eric Newman. "I thought our guys played really hard and had great at bats all the way through the weekend we just came up short in a few key moments of each game."
 
"I was happy with the efforts of Jalen Smith, Austin Smith, and [Marc] Filia all weekend. Brock [Kleszcz] had a really nice game today and Luke Saunders did some good things for us this weekend."
 
"Need to bounce back this week and have a chance to reset and get ourselves back going with good baseball."

TRITON TIDBITS

• Starting pitcher Zach Tonnerre worked 2.0 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits with no walks and one strikeout.
• Zach Ernisse had a strong outing out of the bullpen, pitching 2.0 innings and allowing one run on one hit with two walks and four strikeouts.
• Michael Fuhrman, Austin Smith and Jalen Smith were credited with RBI in the contest.
• Brock Kleszcz, Austin Smith and Jalen Smith recorded multi-hit performances. 
• Jalen Smith reached all six times, going 3-for-4 with two singles, a homerun, a walk, an RBI fielder's choice and he was hit by a pitch. Smith recorded three RBI and two runs scored in the contest.
• Austin Smith extended his 30-game streak of reaching base for the Tritons, reaching on a single, a walk and a two-run homerun.
• With the loss, the Tritons fell to 1-8 in the all-time (DI) series against UC Santa Barbara were swept on the season 0-5, including the two non-conference matchups.

 
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will return to Triton Ballpark on Tuesday to play host to San Diego State in game three of the Trolley Series. First pitch is scheduled for 6 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.