SAN DIEGO—UC San Diego baseball erased a three-run deficit in the ninth inning but fell to the University of San Diego, 8-7, in ten innings at Fowler Park on Wednesday evening. With the loss, the Tritons (3-1) moved to 5-35-2 in the all-time series with the Toreros (2-2).
 
Bradlee Preap tallied three of the Tritons eight hits in the contest, finishing 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Delshaun Lanier finished 2-for-3, while Doyle Kane led the team with three RBI and a run scored, going 1-for-5 with a walk. 
 
Starting pitcher Spencer Seid went 2.0 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, no walks and striking out three batters. Xavier Franco also had a quality outing out of the bullpen, pitching 3.0 innings and giving up three hits with no walks, no runs and three strikeouts.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons got on the board quickly in the top of the first. With two on and one out, Patrick Hackworth scored from second on a wild pitch and a throwing error by the USD catcher. Preap immediately followed with an RBI single up the middle and Andy Ambriz added one more with an RBI single through the left side to make it 3-0, Tritons. UC San Diego threatened for more but left the bases loaded to end the first.
 
After Seid held the Toreros scoreless through the first two innings, USD broke through in the bottom of the third. The Toreros tied the game with a bases-loaded fielder's choice and back-to-back RBI singles to make it 3-all.
 
USD added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth to take its first lead of the contest, 6-3. 
 
UC San Diego got a run back in the top of the sixth when Michael Crossland hit a sac-fly to center field that scored Preap from third. The Toreros responded once again, scoring on a sac-fly of their own in the bottom of the seventh to make it, 7-4. 
 
In the top of the ninth, the Tritons loaded the bases by way of two hit batters and walk. With two outs, Kane roped a double to the left-center wall that cleared the bases and tied the game, 7-7.
 
UC San Diego threatened to take the lead in the tenth, with two-on and no outs. However, three consecutive strikeouts ended the rally without a run. Ryan Farmer came out of the bullpen to start the bottom of the tenth and striking out the leadoff batter. With two outs and a runner on second, USD hit a single to center to score the winning run and secure the walk-off.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Andy Ambriz, Michael Crossland, Doyle Kane and Bradlee Preap were credited with RBI in the contest.
• The Tritons used six pitchers in the contest—Spencer Seid, Sam Hasegawa, Julian Custer, Landon Marchetti, Xavier Franco and Ryan Farmer.
  • It was the collegiate debut for Franco and season debut for Hasegawa.
• Ryan Farmer (0-1) was credited with the loss.
• The Tritons moved to 0-8 in the Division I series with USD and 5-35-2 in the all-time series.

UP NEXT
The Tritons will return to La Jolla to host the Tony Gwynn Legacy event, facing Utah on Friday at 6 p.m. UC San Diego will play host to Missouri for a double-header on Saturday (1 & 4:30 p.m.) and wrap up the weekend against Loyola Marymount on Sunday at 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday's games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and 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 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 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned 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.