LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball recorded its third walk-off win in four games, securing a 5-4 comeback victory over San Diego State on Monday evening in Triton Ballpark. Matt Halbach drove in the winning run after the Tritons (21-9) rallied to score four runs in the bottom of the ninth against the Aztecs (11-17).
 
Ryson Ujimori led the Tritons offensively, finishing 2-for-3 with his first collegiate RBI. Luke Glascoe went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored and Halbach and Patrick Hackworth were responsible for the other two RBI in the contest.
 
Izaak Martinez (5-0) earned the win out of the bullpen, pitching 2.0 innings and allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits with no walks and four strikeouts.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
San Diego State got on the board in the top of the first with a leadoff homerun to start the contest. The Tritons wasted no time tying the game, scoring in the bottom of the second with an RBI single by Ujimori to make it 1-1.
 
The teams stayed locked at 1-1 through the majority of the contest. The Tritons allowed just one base runner in the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings and none in either the sixth or seventh. 
 
The Aztecs broke the tie in the top of the eighth, scoring a pair of runs after a dense fog rolled in that made visibility in the outfield difficult. SDSU added another run in the top of the ninth to build a 4-1 lead.
 
Brock Kleszcz got a leadoff single before Crew Robinson drew a pinch-hit walk to bring the tying run to the plate. Both Tritons advanced on a wild pitch to move into scoring position for Glascoe who hit an infield single to score the first run of the inning.
 
After Emiliano Gonzalez drew a pinch-hit walk to load the bases, Hackworth brought in the second run after being hit by a pitch to make it 4-3. Another wild pitch scored the tying run, and Michael Fuhrman was intentionally walked to load the bases again with one out. 
 
With the infield in for a play at the plate, Halbach hit a scorching ground ball past the second baseman to drive in the winning run.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• It was the third walk-off victory in four games for the Tritons and fourth this season. 
  • Kane has provided two winning hits, and Fuhrman and Halbach one apiece.
• The four runs in the ninth marks the third time this season the Tritons have scored four runs in the final inning for a comeback victory.
• Glascoe, Hackworth, Halbach and Ujimori recorded RBI in the contest. 
• The Tritons improved to 2-0 in the season series with the Aztecs, 6-4 in the Division I series and 9-14 in the all-time series.

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will face San Diego State in the second game of the week, this time traveling to Tony Gwynn Stadium on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network 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.