LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball evened the weekend series with Santa Clara, taking game two, 7-4, on Saturday afternoon in Triton Ballpark. The Tritons (5-5) improved to 3-6 in the all-time series with the Broncos (4-4).
 
Matt Halbach finished 2-for-4 with two doubles, a run scored and an RBI, while Noah Sudyka also finished 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Brandon Larson connected on his first collegiate home run and Emiliano Gonzalez finished 1-for-2 with two RBI and a run scored.
 
Izaak Martinez was credited with the win, closing out the final 3.1 scoreless innings and allowing one hit with one strikeout. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons jumped out to an early lead, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Halbach got things going with an RBI double, Michael Fuhrman brought in another run with an RBI single and Emiliano Gonzalez plated two with a single to center field to give UC San Diego the 4-0 advantage. 
 
The Broncos got a run back an inning later with a solo home run to make it 4-1. Starter Ryan Forcucci kept the SCU batters fairly quiet through the first 3.1 innings with five strikeouts before giving up a pair of runs in the fourth inning to cut the lead to one, 4-3.
 
Santa Clara tied the game in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk, but the Tritons responded in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead, 5-4, with an RBI single from Sudyka.
 
UC San Diego added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth with the solo home run by Larson and another RBI base hit from Sudyka.
 
The Broncos threatened in the ninth, advancing a runner to second with one out. Halbach made a leaping catch on a line drive to third and doubled-up the runner at second to end the game and secure the 7-4 victory for the Tritons.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Izaak Martinez earned the win with 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit.
• Brandon Larson recorded his first collegiate home run.
• Emiliano Gonzalez and Noah Sudyka recorded multi-RBI games and Matt Halbach and Sudyka turned in multi-hit performances.
• With the win, the Tritons even the weekend series with Santa Clara 1-1 and move to 3-6 in the all-time series with the Broncos.

 
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will wrap up the three-game series with Santa Clara on Sunday at 12 p.m. in Triton Ballpark. The game will not be streamed but 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.