LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball suffered its first series sweep of the season, falling in the finale to UC Santa Barbara, 11-5, on Sunday afternoon at Triton Ballpark. The Tritons (22-15, 11-7 Big West) moved to 1-11 in the Division I series with the Gauchos (25-12, 10-5 Big West).
 
Michael Fuhrman went 3-for-4 with three doubles, an RBI and two runs scored, while Brandon Larson finished 2-for-4 with three RBI. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC Santa Barbara got on the board early for the second game in a row, scoring two runs in the top of the first. The Gauchos added to their lead with four runs in the third to make it 6-0.
 
The Tritons stranded a runner in both the first and second innings before breaking through to score two runs in the third. Fuhrman brought in the first run with an RBI double and stole third before Larson brought him in with an infield single to make it 2-6. 
 
The Gauchos got both runs back, however, scoring one in the fourth and one in the fifth to build back the six-run lead, 8-2.
 
Larson plated another run for the Tritons with a sac-fly in the bottom of the fifth, but UC San Diego left the bases loaded. 
 
 Both of the teams put up runs in the eight, with UCSB scoring two and the Tritons adding a run to make it 10-4. The Gauchos added another run to extend their lead 11-4 heading into the bottom of the ninth.
 
Larson plated his third RBI of the contest with a single to left field and the Tritons attempted a rally with two runners on and one out but were unable to come away with another run, falling 11-5.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Starter Aren Alvarez (1-2) was credited with the loss.
• Michael Fuhrman and Brandon Larson turned in multi-hit performances and Fuhrman, Larson and Brock Kleszcz were credited with RBI in the contest.
• Both teams stranded 11 runners on base.
• UC San Diego pitchers gave up five home runs in the contest—the most of the D-I era and most in a game since 2019.
• It was the first time this season the Tritons suffered a series sweep.
• The Tritons moved to 1-10 in the Division I series and 1-13 in the all-time series with UCSB.

UP NEXT
The Tritons will travel north for a midweek game at USC on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The game will be streamed on the USC live stream 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.