LA JOLLA, Calif. – Matt Halbach hit his first home run of the season, and
Anthony Eyanson tossed five innings to pick up the win as the UC San Diego Tritons split a day-night double header with the Missouri Tigers on Saturday at Triton Ballpark.
UC San Diego (4-3) emerged victorious in game one as they picked up an 8-4 win thanks to numerous quality at-bats paired with strong pitching. The visiting Tigers (4-3) would then go on to win game two as they picked up the 5-4 win in 11 innings to earn the split in the second day of the Tony Gwynn Classic.
The Tritons (2-0) scored in six of the eight innings they hit on Saturday as they plated three in the first, one in the second, six in the third and single runs in the fifth and sixth before scoring three additional runs in the bottom of the eighth. UC San Diego pitching has yet to allow an earned run this season as they've completely stymied the Spartan (0-2) bats while walking just one batter in their first 18 innings of play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1:
The visiting Tigers came out swinging to begin the doubleheader as they hit a two-run home run in the top of the first to grab the game's first lead. After the bumpy first inning, Triton starter
Zack Ernisse settled into the game nicely as he allowed just a pair of runs across four innings pitched while fanning four Missouri hitters.
UC San Diego broke through with their first runs of the afternoon in the bottom of the fourth as
Doyle Kane reached on an error which helped put the Missouri starter into the stretch for just the second time in the game.
Matt Halbach then drove a 1-0 offering over the right field wall to tie the game and excite the Triton dugout for his first home run of the season.
Extending their lead just an inning later, UC San Diego was able to plate three runs in the fifth as
Bradlee Preap came through with an RBI single to score
Noah Sudyka before
Michael Crossland scored on a wild pitch. Kane later on in the inning was able to reach on a fielder's choice that brought home
Benjamin Rosengard to put the Tritons ahead 5-2.
Trailing by a trio of runs, Missouri was able to claw their way back a bit as they plated two runs on an RBI single as the score held at 5-4 UC San Diego through six and a half innings of play.
Looking to build on their lead, the Tritons came through with three more runs in the bottom of the seventh as Rosengard came through with a one out double, advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a Preap sacrifice fly to center to make it 6-4.
Nick Costello would then deliver the back-breaking hit as he scalded a two-run single to right to score both Kane and Halbach to make it 8-4 UC San Diego.
Anthony Eyanson helped finish the drive as he tossed five innings allowing just a pair of runs, and striking out seven hitters including the final batter of the game looking as the Tritons earned the 8-4 victory in the first half of the double header.
Game 2:
After a scoreless frame from both teams in the first, the Tritons were able to bust out in front in the bottom of the second as Kane led off the inning with a double and came around to score on an RBI single from
Andy Ambriz to lead 1-0 early.
Missouri wouldn't take long to jump back in front as they were able to get a pair of runs across in the top of the third before the Tritons would counter punch in the next half inning.
Trailing by a run in the bottom of the third,
Michael Crossland was hit by a pitch with one out and Rosengard followed with a single that allowed him to advance to third on an overthrow to put two Tritons on base. Preap then delivered his second sacrifice fly of the day to tie the game, and then Kane drove home Rosengard to put UC San Diego ahead 3-2 after three innings of play.
Still deadlocked at three throughout the middle innings, the Tigers were able to take a 4-3 advantage in the top of the seventh as they hit a two-out solo home run to put themselves ahead late into the final innings.
Down to their final six outs, the Tritons were able to claw back and pushed across the equalizer as Halbach delivered a lead-off single and came around to score on an RBI fielder's choice from Sudyka to even the score once again.
Still even into extra innings, Missouri was able to push ahead the go-ahead run in the 11
th on an RBI infield single as they went on to earn the 5-4 victory in the back half of the double header at Triton Ballpark.
TRITON TIDBITS
- With seven more strikeouts in game one, Eyanson now is the team leader in K's with 15 so far this season in two outings.
- Costello recorded his first hit of the season on Saturday as his big day at the plate included a 2-for-5 day with a pair of RBI.
- Rosengard was a key piece in both games against Missouri as he went 4-for-10 while manning second base. He now leads the Tritons with a .392 batting average this season.
- Game one took 2:25 to play and game two ended with a 3:39 run time.
QUOTABLE
"There were a lot of great things that came out today," UC San Diego head coach
Eric Newman said. "We've gotten great contributions from some of our newer guys early this season, and I challenged our guys after yesterday's loss to show up today and put that one behind him. Some of our old bad habits showed up in game two as we had a couple of chances to win that game and we didn't do it. We have one more to go tomorrow and I want our guys to show up with a good mindset against LMU."
UP NEXT
The Tritons will wrap up the weekend on their home diamond as they're set to host the LMU Lions on Sunday, Feb. 25 with first pitch scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased through
Triton Box Office. The game can also be seen live on ESPN+ with live statistics on 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 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.
