FULLERTON, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball defeated Cal State Fullerton, 7-4, in the series opener on Friday evening at Goodwin Field. The Tritons (28-18, 16-9 Big West) improved to 6-4 in the all-time series with the Titans (28-17, 17-5 Big West) and 1-0 in the weekend series with the Big West leader.
 
Michael Fuhrman led the Tritons offensively, finishing 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI. The redshirt senior finished a double shy of hitting for the cycle with a single, triple and home run in the contest. Matt Halbach went 2-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored and Patrick Hackworth went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
 
Starter Ryan Forcucci (4-1) earned the victory with a solid 5.1 innings of work, allowing three runs on three hits and matching his season high with eight strikeouts. Izaak Martinez picked up his fifth save of the season, pitching 3.2 innings and allowing one run on three hits with one strikeout.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Titans got on the board first, scoring on a leadoff home run in the second to make it 1-0. Forcucci held CSUF in check through the next four innings, tallying eight strikeouts to match his season high. 
 
UC San Diego advanced a runner to third in the top of the season but were unable to bring him home. An inning later the Tritons broke through, scoring a pair of runs on four hits to take the lead 2-0. 
 
After a leadoff double by Hackworth, Halbach doubled to bring in the first run of the night. The Tritons advanced Halbach to third before Fuhrman hit a single to left field to bring him in and give UC San Diego the lead. 
 
The Tritons tacked on three more runs in the top of the sixth, scoring on a sac-fly by Hackworth and a two-RBI double by Halbach to jump in front 5-1. Fullerton responded in the bottom of the inning, scoring two runs on two hits to cut into the lead, 5-3.
 
UC San Diego got a run back an inning later after a leadoff triple by Fuhrman and an RBI ground-out by Emiliano Gonzalez to make it 6-3. 
 
The Titans advanced a runner to third in both the seventh and eighth innings, but Martinez and the Tritons stranded the runners to keep a three-run advantage. 
 
In the top of the ninth, Fuhrman hit a leadoff home run over buildings in left field to extend UC San Diego's lead, 7-3. The Titans got a run back in the bottom of the inning and threatened more, but Martinez forced a routine fly-out to right field to end the ballgame and earn his fifth save of the season.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Ryan Forcucci matched his season high with eight strikeouts and finished one shy of his career high—also tallied against Cal State Fullerton last season.
• Izaak Martinez earned his fifth save of the season and currently ranks seventh in the Big West.
• The top four in the batting order—Michael Fuhrman, Gonzalez, Patrick Hackworth, Matt Halbach—were each credited with at least one RBI. 
• Fuhrman, Hackworth and Halbach all turned in multi-hit performances.
• Michael Fuhrman finished a double shy of the cycle, hitting a single, triple and home run in the contest.
• UC San Diego tallied 10+ hits for the first time in five games, the last coming at Cal Poly (April 30).
• The Tritons improved to 6-4 in the all-time series with Cal State Fullerton.

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will face Cal State Fullerton in game two of the weekend series on Saturday at 5 p.m. The game 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.