BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball took the series at CSU Bakersfield with a 9-5 victory on Sunday afternoon at Hardt Field.
 
The Tritons (15-23, 6-9 Big West) were led by Marc Filia who finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a homerun—his second of the series. Ryan McNally finished 2-for-4 with two RBI
Ryan Rissas (2-1) earned the win for the Tritons facing two batters in the sixth, while Aren Alvarez picked up his second save with 3.0 scoreless innings, allowing one hit with three strikeouts.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
For the third-straight game, the Tritons took the early lead, scoring on a bases-loaded balk and a two-RBI single for Blake FitzGerald in the first inning. The Roadrunners (15-22, 8-7 Big West) in the bottom of the inning, putting four runs on the board to take the lead 4-3.
 
UC San Diego tied the game the next inning on an RBI single by Luke Saunders, but CSUB got the run back in the bottom of the inning to quickly retake the lead 5-4. 
 
Ethan Holt was solid for the Tritons out of the bullpen, coming in to start the third and facing one batter over the minimum in each of his three innings of work.
 
The Tritons tied the game for the second time, 5-5, scoring on a sac-fly by Noah Sudyka in the top of the sixth. One inning later, Filia knocked a towering homerun to left field—his ninth of the season—for what would prove to be the winning run for UC San Diego, 6-5.  
 
Beginning in the sixth, Rissas and Alvarez combined to hold the Roadrunners to just one hit for the remainder of the contest, retiring 11 of the 12 batters faced.
 
In the top of the ninth, the Tritons tacked on three insurance runs, scoring on a wild pitch and a two-RBI single from McNally to earn the 9-5 victory.

QUOTABLE
"We played really tough all weekend," said UC San Diego head coach Eric Newman. "We were disappointed with how Friday turned out and felt like we played well. We had our chances in that one and just didn't capitalize so it was great to see the guys bounce back and compete and play the way they did the next two days."

"Our bullpen was tremendous all weekend and gave us great opportunities to win."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Ryan Rissas (2-1) earned the win for the Tritons facing two batters in the sixth, while Aren Alvarez picked up his second save with 3.0 scoreless innings, allowing one hit with three strikeouts.
• Five Tritons were credited with RBI, including Marc Filia, Blake FitzGerald, Ryan McNally, Luke Saunders and Noah Sudyka.
• Marc Filia, Ryan McNally, Crew Robinson, Luke Saunders and Jalen Smith recorded multi-hit performances. 
• With the win, the Tritons improve to 3-4 in the all-time (DI) series against CSU Bakersfield and earn their second Big West series win, 2-1.

UP NEXT
UC San Diego will return to Triton Ballpark to host UC Riverside for a three-game series, Friday-Sunday. 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.