SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—UC San Diego baseball fell to Grand Canyon, 12-4, on Friday afternoon in the opening game of the MLB Desert Invitational. The Tritons (0-1) attempted to rally in the later innings but could not complete the comeback, falling to 35-23 in the all-time series with the Lopes (1-0). 
 
Transfer Doyle Kane finished the day 2-for-4 with two RBI and Jalen Smith went 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Nic Gregson collected a team-high four strikeouts in 3.2 innings of relief—his first appearance since 2021—allowing three runs on four hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
GCU jumped out to an early lead, scoring two runs in the first and three more in the top of the second. The Lopes added one more run in the top of the third to take a commanding 6-0 lead.
 
Sophomore starter Zack Ernisse had a tough first outing, going 2.1 innings before Gregson took over in the top of the third. 
 
The Tritons consistently got on base early but were unable to convert, stranding a pair of runners in the first and one more in both the third and fifth innings. UC San Diego got one of its best opportunities in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases with two outs. However a ground-out ended the inning for the Tritons without a run.
 
Grand Canyon added to its lead in the top of the seventh, putting three runs on the board to make it 9-0. 
 
UC San Diego remained patient at the plate and was finally able to break through in the bottom of the seventh. Sparked by a leadoff single from Brock Kleszcz, the Tritons loaded the bases with nobody out for Smith who knocked the first RBI single of the season for UC San Diego. Matt Halbach drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in another run and newcomer Kane added a two-RBI single to left center to give the Tritons life, 4-9.
 
The momentum was short-lived for UC San Diego, however, when the Lopes responded to get three runs back the following inning and effectively halt the comeback.
 
QUOTABLE
"Unfortunately got off to a rough start the first 3 innings and that was really the game," said UC San Diego head coach Eric Newman. "Nic Gregson did a fantastic job of saving our pitching for the weekend and pitched really well. Defensively wasn't a great effort on our part to make some plays and they made a couple really good plays that stopped us."

"After the 3rd inning we started to settle down and just play. Our at bats were a lot better the second and third time through the lineup and that's when I felt like we started to really work to get good pitches to hit. Unfortunately, we were in too big a hole to crawl out of at that point."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• The game was broadcast nationally on MLB Network as part of the opening weekend Desert Invitational. It was the first nationally televised game for the Tritons in the Division I era.
• Jalen Smith and Doyle Kane turned in multi-hit performances for the Tritons, as well as being responsible for three of the Tritons four RBI. Matt Halbach was credited with the other.
• Zack Ernisse was credited with the loss, while Nic Gregson had the longest outing of the day for UC San Diego (3.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 16 BF). 
• The Tritons moved to 35-23 in the all-time series with GCU and 0-2 in the D-I era. 

UP NEXT
The Tritons will remain in Scottsdale to face Michigan on day two of the MLB Desert Invitational. Saturday's game against the Wolverines is set for 12 p.m. PT first pitch at Salt River Fields. The game will be streamed on mlb.com 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 began a new era in 2020 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 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.