RIVERSIDE, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball defeated UC Riverside, 10-6, in game two of the weekend series on Saturday evening at Riverside Sports Complex. With the win, the Tritons (33-18, 20-9 Big West) moved to 11-15 (8-2 in D-I) in the all-time series with the Highlanders (11-36, 5-21 Big West) and 2-0 in the weekend series. It was UC San Diego's seventh conference series win this season.
 
Senior Michael Mitchell (4-1) earned the win in his final collegiate start, going 5.2 innings and allowing one run—unearned—on three hits with one walk and a season-high seven strikeouts. Izaak Martinez recorded the final out of the contest for his eighth save of the season.
 
UC San Diego scored all 10 of its runs in the third inning, with six different Tritons recording a run batted in. Bradlee Preap led the team with three RBI and a run scored, while Doyle Kane recorded two RBI and two runs scored. UC San Diego finished with 15 hits, with five different Tritons turning in multi-hit performances.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons advanced two runners into scoring position in the top of the first but were unable to cash in. UC San Diego threatened again in the second with the bases loaded and no outs, but a double-play and a fly-out ended the inning without a run once again. 
 
In the top of the third, UC San Diego loaded the bases once again with no outs. It was a different story this time for the Tritons, exploding for 10 runs on seven hits and one UCR error. Preap got the inning going with a blazing line drive that was mishandled by the UCR third baseman to bring in the first run. Another run scored on a wild pitch, before a bases-loaded RBI single by Crew Robinson made it 3-0.
 
Nick Costello drew a bases-loaded walk that forced in another run and Noah Sudyka hit a sac-fly to left to make it 5-0. Patrick Hackworth knocked a bases-loaded single to bring in another run and Kane added two more to the lead with his own bases-loaded single to make it 8-0. Preap wrapped up the scoring with another two-RBI single through the left side to bring the total to 10-0. 
 
Mitchell was excellent in his final collegiate start, sitting the Highlanders down in order in the first and the fifth and collecting a season-high seven strikeouts in between.
 
UC Riverside broke through for its first run of the game in the third after the leadoff man reached on a fielding error and scored on a two-out RBI double to make it 10-1. The Highlanders cut into the lead again in the bottom of the seventh, scoring two runs on two hits to make it 10-3. UCR added two more runs an inning later to cut the lead to five, 10-5.
 
The Tritons threatened one final time in the top of the ninth with runners on the corners and two outs, but were unable to cash in. 
 
In the bottom of the ninth, UC Riverside cut into the Tritons' lead again, scoring a run and threatened for more with two runners on and two outs. Martinez force a fly-out to right to end the contest and secure the save and the series for the Tritons.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Michael Mitchell earned his fourth victory of the season and recorded a season high seven strikeouts.
• Izaak Martinez earned his eighth save of the season and second of the series. He now ranks third in the Big West.
• It was the second consecutive game the Tritons recorded 14+ hits and 24th time this season UC San Diego has recorded 10+ hits in a game.
  • The Tritons 15 hits was the most since March 19 against Long Beach State (16).
• The Tritons improved to 11-15 (8-2 in D-I) in the all-time series with the Highlanders and 2-0 in the weekend series.

UP NEXT
The Tritons will wrap up the 2023 season and their third season of Division I competition on Sunday with the series finale against UC Riverside at 1 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.