LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball took both games of the double-header to open its four-game series with Stephen F. Austin on Friday in Triton Ballpark. The Tritons (7-3) took game one, 10-4, and topped the Lumberjacks (3-9) in game two, 4-2.
 
Emiliano Gonzalez went 4-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored in game one of the day, while Nick Costello finished 2-for-4 with four RBI and a run scored. Bradlee Preap went 3-for-4 in game two with an RBI, while Michael Crossland finished 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. Costello, Crossland and Benjamin Rosengard all knocked their first home runs of the season on the day.
 
GAME 1: UCSD 10, SFA 4
The Tritons got on the board first in the bottom of the third inning with a three-run home run by Rosengard—his first of the season. Costello followed an inning later with his first homer of the season—a two run blast—to give the Tritons a 5-0 lead. 
 
Starter Ryan Forcucci (2-0) allowed just one hit and one batter over the minimum through his first four innings of work. The Jacks broke through in the fifth inning, scoring on a sac-fly and an RBI single to make it 5-2. 
 
UC San Diego responded right away, hanging three runs on the board in the bottom of the inning. Gonzalez knocked a bases-loaded double to bring in two runs and Costello immediately followed with an RBI single to put the Tritons in front, 8-2.
 
SFA got a run back in the top of the seventh, but the Tritons responded once again. UC San Diego scored two runs in the bottom of the inning, with both Costello and Ryson Ujimori both driving in a run for the Tritons to make it 10-3. 
 
The Jacks knocked a solo home run in the top of the ninth and threatened for more with two runners on and one out. Freshman Nathan Huy forced a fly-out to left field and a ground-out to first to secure the first save of his collegiate career after pitching the final three innings.
 
GAME 2: UCSD 4, SFA 2
Stephen F. Austin was first to strike in game two of the double-header, scoring one run in the top of the second on a fielder's choice. 
 
The Tritons broke through in the third inning, plating three runs on an RBI single by Crossland, followed by back-to-back RBI base-hits from Halbach and Preap to jump in front, 3-1. The Jacks got one run back in the top of the fourth with a solo home run to left center to make it a one-run ballgame.
 
Crossland gave UC San Diego an insurance run in the fifth with a solo home run of his own—the first of his collegiate career. 
 
Anthony Eyanson impressed on the mound for the Tritons out of the bullpen. The sophomore right-hander came on in the top of the sixth and shutout the Jacks in 4.0 innings of work, allowing just two hits, no walks and striking out six for his first save of the season. Starter Zack Ernisse (1-0) earned his first victory of the season, pitching 5.0 innings and allowing two runs on four hits with five strikeouts.
 
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will continue the weekend series with Stephen F. Austin on Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will not be streamed, but 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.