LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball will play host to UC Santa Barbara for a three-game series beginning Friday in Triton Ballpark. The Tritons (22-12, 11-4 Big West) will face the Gauchos (22-12, 7-5 Big West) in the opener on Friday at 6 p.m.
 
Saturday's game is scheduled for 2 p.m. and Sunday will wrap up the series at 1 p.m. with Youth Day at the ballpark. The Tritons will also travel to USC for a midweek game on Tuesday against the Trojans (21-13-1) at 6:30 p.m. at Dedeaux Field.
 
The weekend's games will be broadcast on ESPN+, Tuesday's matchup will be streamed on the USC Live Stream and live statistics will be available for all games via UCSDTritons.com.

DETAILS
Games 35-37
UC San Diego (22-12, 11-4) vs UC Santa Barbara (22-12, 7-5)
Friday at 6 p.m. | Saturday at 2 p.m. | Sunday at 1 p.m.
Triton Ballpark (500) | La Jolla, Calif
All-time series: 1-11 (1-8 in D-I)
Game 1 on ESPN+ | Game 2 on ESPN+ | Game 3 on ESPN+ | Live Stats
 
Game 38
UC San Diego at USC (22-13-1)
Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Dedeaux Field (2,500) | Los Angeles, Calif.
All-time series: 1-0
Live Stream | Live Stats
 
EVENTS AT THE BALLPARK
Friday night is Revelle College Night at Triton Ballpark with special giveaways and prizes for Revelle College members. Sunday the Tritons will host their second Youth Day of the season with free mini replica helmets for the first 250 fans, kids can also run the bases postgame and collect autographs from the UC San Diego baseball team.
 
ABOUT THE TRITONS
Roster | Schedule | Stats
Overall: 22-12
Big West: 11-4
Home: 19-4
Away: 2-5
Neutral: 1-3
Vs. Ranked Opponents: 0-1
Streak: W1
 
ABOUT UC SANTA BARBARA
Roster | Schedule | Stats
Overall: 22-12
Big West: 7-5
Home: 12-5
Away: 8-5
Neutral: 2-2
Vs. Ranked Opponents: 0-0
Streak: L2
 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will travel for a three-game series at Cal Poly, April 28-30. All games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live statistics will be available via UCSDTritons.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC San Diego dropped its second Big West series of the season, going 1-2 at Hawai'i over the weekend. The Tritons were shut out for the second time this season in the opener Friday, 1-0, despite strong pitching efforts from Michael Mitchell and Ryan Forcucci. Saturday, the Tritons fell 17-8 before bouncing back to take the Sunday finale, 11-2.
 
Weekend Top Performers
Matt Halbach: 6-for-13 (.462), 1 rbi, 4 r, 1 2b, 1 hr, .769 slg%, .533 ob%
Brandon Larson: 4-for-9 (.444), 6 rbi, 1 r, 1 3b, .667 slg%, .444 ob%
Crew Robinson: 3-for-7 (.429), 2 rbi, 1 r, .429 slg%, .556 ob%
 
Michael Mitchell: 0.00 era, 0-0, 1 gs, 5.0 ip, 3 h, 0 r, 1 bb, 5 so, .176 b/avg
Ryan Forcucci: 3.00 era, 0-1, 1 app, 3.0 ip, 1 h, 1 r, 1 bb, 5 so, .111 b/avg
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
The Tritons rank in the top 50 teams in the nation in several statistical categories, including triples (T-8th, 16), earned run average (T-34th, 4.26), WHIP (T-41st, 1.37) and hits allowed per nine innings (42nd, 8.25).
 
UC San Diego ranks first among reclassifying teams in triples, WHIP, ERA, strikeout to walk ratio, hits allowed and W-L percentage. The Tritons rank second in strikeouts per nine innings and batting average.
 
DOWN TO THE WIRE
The Tritons have combined to score 104 of their 245 runs in the final three innings (seventh: 39, eighth: 41, ninth: 24)—including outscoring their opponents 41-17 in the eighth. UC San Diego has won in walk-off fashion four times this season, once against Long Beach State (Mar. 17), twice against UC Davis (April 6 & 7) and once against San Diego State (April 10). In three of those contests, the Tritons rallied to score four runs in the bottom of the ninth to secure the comeback victory.
 
UC San Diego has dropped four of its 12 losses by only one run—including Arizona, Washington State, Santa Clara and Hawai'i—and six losses by three or fewer runs.
 
STACKING UP AGAINST THE BIG WEST
The Tritons currently sit in second place in the Big West with an 11-4 record, one game behind Cal State Fullerton (12-3) and just ahead of CSUN (8-4). UC San Diego ranks second in the Big West in batting average (.291), just behind CSUN (.316). The Tritons rank first in runs batted in (227), runs scored (245), total hits (337) and triples (16) and second in doubles (70).
 
UC San Diego ranks second in opponent batting average (.242), earned run average (4.26), third in total strikeouts (315) and in hits allowed (274). Nic Gregson ranks fifth in the conference in wins (4), 15th in strikeouts (38) and 19th in earned run average (4.86). Ryan Forcucci ranks 13th in strikeouts (41) and Izaak Martinez is tied for first with five wins on the season. 
 
Two Tritons rank in the top 15 in batting average, including Patrick Hackworth (T-8th, .340) and Matt Halbach (T-11th, .336). Halbach ranks first in the conference in total hits with 47, sixth in runs scored (30), eighth in runs batted in (29), 14th in doubles (9) and first in triples (5). 
 
Additionally, Doyle Kane ranks ninth with 42 hits, Michael Fuhrman ranks 10th in runs scored (28) and Brandon Larson ranks ninth—with Halbach—for runs batted in with (29). Fuhrman leads the team with five home runs, which ranks 14th in the conference.
 
MARTINEZ NAMED UCU ATHLETE OF THE WEEK (MAR. 27)
Redshirt junior Izaak Martinez pitched 4.0 shutout innings in two appearances to help UC San Diego sweep CSU Bakersfield in the weekend series. Martinez pitched two shutout innings in the opener on Friday, retiring all six batters faced including three strikeouts. In the Sunday finale, Martinez earned his first save of the season, shutting out the Roadrunners in the final two innings and collecting four strikeouts. Martinez has allowed just two runs in his last seven appearances and five total hits.
 
FURHMAN NAMED BIG WEST FIELD PLAYER OF THE WEEK (MAR. 20)
Senior Michael Fuhrman earned UC San Diego's first-ever Big West Field Player of the Week award, after helping the Tritons go 4-0 in week five. Fuhrman finished 6-for-14 for the week with a .429 batting average, .857 slugging percentage and .471 on-base percentage. He led the team in both runs scored (six) and runs batted in (seven), including two three-run home runs to help UC San Diego sweep Long Beach State for the first time in program history.
 
EYANSON NAMED UCU ATHLETE OF THE WEEK (FEB. 27)
Anthony Eyanson was dominant in his first collegiate start, pitching 5.0 shutout innings against Arizona on Feb. 20. The freshman right-hander allowed just two hits with no walks and six strikeouts, holding the Wildcats to a .118 batting average in the Tritons' final game of the MLB Desert Invitational.
 
EXPERIENCED ROSTER
The Tritons return 25 scholar-athletes from the 2022 roster, including six starters from a team that finished 13-17 in The Big West a season ago. UC San Diego's 2023 roster includes 2022 All-Big West second team honorees Emiliano Gonzalez and Jalen Smith, along with 2021 Big West second team selections Michael Fuhrman and Michael Mitchell (who returns to action after sitting out the 2022 campaign due to injury).
 
FRESH FACES
UC San Diego will add 14 newcomers to its roster for the 2023 season, including nine true freshmen, four junior college/college transfers. The Triton additions include six pitchers and eight position players. 
 
JALEN SMITH NAMED TO BIG WEST PRESEASON TEAM
Senior Jalen Smith was selected to The Big West's first-ever Baseball Preseason Coaches' Team. It was the first preseason honor for Smith, who is also a two-time All-Big West Second Team selection. The infielder was recognized in 2022 for his performance with UC San Diego and in 2021 while a member of the UC Davis program.
 
Smith was exceptional in his first season at UC San Diego, appearing in a team-high 54 games and making 53 starts at third base. The junior transfer finished with a .305 average with seven homeruns and 34 runs batted in.
 
Smith led the Tritons in almost all statistical categories, including OPS (.921), at bats (203), hits (62), doubles (16), triples (3), total bases (105), slugging percentage (.517), walks (30), on-base percentage (.404) and stolen bases (7-10). Smith also ranked among the top hitters in the Big West in doubles (6th), hits (12th), triples (3rd), homeruns (10th), walks (12th), and stolen bases (12th).

TRITONS PICKED 8TH IN PRESEASON POLL
UC San Diego was picked to finish eighth in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll with 33 total points.Defending Big West champion UC Santa Barbara was picked to finish first in the preseason coaches' poll with 96 points and eight of the 11 first-place votes. UC Irvine was tabbed to finish second (84 points), followed by Long Beach State (79), Cal Poly (71), Cal State Fullerton (68) and Hawai'i (66). LBSU, CSUF and UH all received one of the remaining first-place votes. 
 
Rounding out the group was CSUN (45), UC San Diego (33), UC Davis (28), CSU Bakersfield (23) and UC Riverside (12). 
 
HOME SWEET HOME
After spending opening weekend on the road in Arizona, the Tritons will return to La Jolla to play their next 18 games inside Triton Ballpark. UC San Diego will open its home season with the Tony Gwynn Legacy against UNLV on Feb. 24 and remain home until March 28 when the Tritons face crosstown rival San Diego State for the first of four midweek contests with the Aztecs.

TRITONS SIGN EIGHT TO NLIS
UC San Diego signed eight incoming freshmen who will join the Tritons for the 2023-24 season. The Tritons will welcome Michael Crossland (Seattle, Wash.), Julian Custer (San Diego, Calif.), Nathan Huy (Yorba Linda, Calif.), Devon King (San Diego, Calif.), Steele Murdock (Herriman, Utah), Kerim Orucevic (Park Ridge, Il.), Anthony Potestio (Brentwood, Calif.) and Landon Runyan (Huntington Beach, Calif.) for the 2024 season.
 
The 2023 signing class includes four pitchers, two outfielders, one infielder and one utility player. Five scholar-athletes join the Tritons from California, while Illinois, Washington and Utah were also represented. Four of the eight signees ranked among the top-11 or above for their position in their state by Prep Baseball Report (PBR), including Crossland, Huy, Murdock and Orucevic.
 
ON THE MOVE
After 20 seasons playing as an NCAA Division II team, the entire athletics program is in its third year of a four-year transition to NCAA Division I, culminating in full DI status as a member of the Big West Conference for the 2024-25 academic year. At that time, all sports will be eligible for conference and NCAA postseason play.

A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE
While at the Division II level, UC San Diego baseball experienced great success for 20 years as a member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). The Tritons amassed six regular season titles in arguably the toughest conference nationally in the NCAA Division II. UC San Diego made five appearances in the NCAA D-II World Series, and most recently appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2019. 
 
During his nine seasons coaching the Tritons at Division II, Eric Newman was named ABCA/Diamond West Region Coach of the Year for three consecutive seasons (2017-2019) and also twice recognized as CCAA Coach of the Year (2012, 2019).

WHY THE TRITONS
The Triton is described as the offspring of Poseidon and Amphitrite, a demigod of the sea with a lower part of the body like that of a fish. It is known as a mighty and fierce sea warrior. Given UC San Diego's close proximity to the Pacific Ocean and its connections with the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Triton became our mascot in 1964.

EXCELLING IN THE CLASSROOM
UC San Diego baseball had seven current scholar-athletes named to the 2022 Big West Spring Academic All-Conference Team. Those Tritons earning academic recognition were Cole Dale, Michael Fuhrman, Brock Kleszcz, Izaak Martinez, Luke Saunders, Joe Soberon and Noah Sudyka. 
 
In order to qualify for the Academic All-Conference Team, scholar-athletes had to carry a minimum 3.00 cumulative institutional grade point average (GPA), must have completed one full academic year at the member institution prior to the season for which the award is being received, and must have competed in at least 50 percent of the institution's contests in the student-athlete's respective sport.

GET SOCIAL WITH UC SAN DIEGO BASEBALL
Keep up with the Tritons all season long on social media through Twitter and Instagram. The team's handle is @ucsdbsb.
 
FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UC San Diego home athletic events, and much more!

GEAR
For the latest Triton apparel and accessories, click here.
 
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.