SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball secured its fifth series sweep of the season and fourth in Big West play, defeating Cal Poly, 7-6, on Sunday afternoon at Baggett Stadium. With the win, the Tritons (25-16, 14-7 Big West) moved to 7-3 in the all-time series with the Mustangs (14-27, 8-13 Big West) and secured their first series sweep of CP.
 
Brandon Larson continued his impressive weekend, finishing 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored, including the game-winning two-run homer in the ninth. Brock Kleszcz also had a successful day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored and Doyle Kane finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored.
 
Aren Alvarez (2-2) was credited with the win, coming out of the bullpen for a shut-down inning in the eighth and Izaak Martinez earned his third save of the weekend, closing out the ninth.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego threatened with early base runners but were unable to bring in a run through the first three innings. The Tritons stranded six base runners, including leaving the bases loaded in the second.
 
The teams remained scoreless early before UC San Diego finally broke through in the top of the fourth with an RBI single by Hackworth. Cal Poly responded in the bottom of the inning, scoring two runs to take the lead, 2-1.
 
The Tritons tied the game again the next inning with an RBI single by Larson to make it 2-2. UC San Diego pulled in front again in the top of the seventh, scoring on an RBI double from Robinson and a two-RBI single by Kleszcz to lead, 5-2.
 
The Mustangs responded once again, scoring three runs of their own in the bottom of the seventh to even the game again, 5-5.
 
In the top of the ninth with one runner on and no outs, Larson hit a no-doubter to right field to put the Tritons in front once more, 7-5. Martinez gave up a leadoff home run by Cal Poly in the bottom of the inning, but then retired the next three Mustangs in order including a strikeout to end the game and earn his fourth save of the season.
 
QUOTABLE
"This was a great bounce back from our guys this weekend," said UC San Diego head coach Eric Newman. "It felt like we got our confidence going on Friday with a great pitching performance from Ryan [Forcucci] and Izaak [Martinez] that seemed to settle us into the weekend.
 
"After that the bats really got going. Brandon [Larson], Doyle [Kane], Patrick [Hackworth] and Crew [Robinson] all had great series for us offensively and it felt like the team approach on offense was back to the level it was at earlier in the season.
 
"Have to give Izaak [Martinez] and Brandon [Larson] huge shout outs for the efforts this weekend. I'm not sure I've ever had a pitcher record three saves or a freshman hit three home runs in a series that came in such big moments."

TRITON TIDBITS

• Izaak Martinez secured his third save in three days, closing out all three games of the series for the Tritons.
• Kane, Kleszcz and Larson all turned in multi-hit performances.
• Hackworth, Kleszcz, Larson and Robinson were credited with runs batted in.
  • Larson recorded three RBI and a home run in each game of the series—finishing with nine runs batted in for the weekend.
• The Tritons moved 7-3 in the all-time series with Cal Poly.
• It was the fifth series sweep of the season and fourth in Big West play—the most for the Tritons in the Division I era and most sweeps for UC San Diego since 2019 (9 sweeps).
• The 3-0 weekend moves the Tritons (14-7) into third place in the Big West, trailing Cal State Fullerton (17-4) and UC Santa Barbara (13-5).

UP NEXT
The Tritons will return to Triton Ballpark for their final homestand of the season, hosting BYU in a midweek game on Tuesday and CSUN in the weekend series to close out the home schedule. The games will be broadcast on ESPN+ 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.