LOS ANGELES—UC San Diego baseball fell in a close battle with USC, 4-3, on Tuesday evening at Dedeaux Field. The Tritons (22-16) trailed early before battling back to a one-run decision with the Trojans (25-14-1) in the eighth. With the loss, the Tritons move to 1-1 in the all-time series with USC.
 
Noah Sudyka finished 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, while Brandon Larson went 1-for-4 with a home run. The Tritons were held to five hits in the contest and seven left on base, compared to seven hits and five left on base for USC.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Trojans took an early lead, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning. UC San Diego got one run back in the top of the third with a sac-fly from Matt Halbach to make it 3-1. However, USC answered immediately, scoring on a leadoff home run in the bottom of the inning to build its lead back to three, 4-1.
 
Larson responded with a solo homer of his own in the fourth inning, sending a towering ball 400 feet to right field to make it 4-2. UC San Diego got its best opportunity in the fifth, loading the bases with one out. However, a strikeout and a fly-out ended the inning for the Tritons without a run. 
 
After the leadoff homer in the third, the Triton pitching staff held the Trojans scoreless the rest of the ballgame. Chris Gilmartin, Ryan Farmer, Sam Hasegawa and Seth Sumner combined to face four batters over the minimum in the final six frames.
 
In the top of the eighth, Doyle Kane brought in Michael Fuhrman from third on a ground-out to make it a one run game. The Tritons got the leadoff man aboard in the ninth after Crew Robinson singled through the right side, but back-to-back strikeouts and a fly-out kept UC San Diego off the board and ended the comeback.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• It was the 10th one-run ballgame of the season. The Tritons are 5-5 in those contests.
• Noah Sudyka turned in the only multi-hit performance of the night for the Tritons.
• Brandon Larson recorded his fifth home run of the season.
• Halbach, Kane and Larson were credited with runs batted in.
• The Tritons moved to 1-1 in the all-time series with USC.

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will remain on the road this weekend for a three-game series at Cal Poly beginning Friday at 6 p.m. Sunday's game will be the only contest broadcast on ESPN+. Live statistics will be available for all games 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.