LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball secured the game two victory, 10-9, over Cal State Fullerton on Saturday afternoon in Triton Ballpark. The Tritons (14-4, 1-1 Big West) secured head coach Eric Newman's 500th career victory in dramatic fashion after trailing the Titans (8-9, 1-1 Big West) by as many as six runs. 
 
The Tritons knocked five home runs in the contest, led by Matt Halbach who finished 4-for-4 with a home run, two doubles, four RBI and two runs scored. Patrick Hackworth also went 4-for-4 with his first home run of the season, collecting an RBI and two runs scored. Nick Costello, Emiliano Gonzalez and Colton Lomanto also went yard for the Tritons.
 
Spencer Seid (2-0) earned the victory for the Tritons, pitching the eighth inning and retiring all three batters faced including one strikeout. Izaak Martinez earned his fifth save of the season, coming in for the ninth and retiring all three batters faced including two strikeouts.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Cal State Fullerton was quick to strike, scoring five runs on three hits and two errors in the top of the first for an early 5-0 lead. The Tritons responded in the bottom of the inning, putting up two runs after a leadoff home run by Costello and another solo shot from Halbach.
 
The Titans got a run back an inning later with an RBI single to make it 6-2. In the bottom of the third, Rosengard singled through the right side to score Crossland to cut the deficit back to three, 6-3.
 
Starter Zack Ernisse blanked the Titans in the third and the fourth before Anthony Eyanson came in to secure the final out of the frame with a strikeout. However, CSUF rallied again in the fifth, hanging three runs on the board to build its largest lead of the contest, 9-3.
 
Cal State Fullerton threatened for more in the top of the sixth after loading the bases with one out, but back-to-back strikeouts from Eyanson ended the threat without a run. 
 
Each time it seemed as if the Titans were pulling away, the Tritons had an answer. UC San Diego slowly began to chip away at the Fullerton lead beginning in the sixth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Halbach drove a double down the left field line to bring in two Tritons and make it 9-5.
 
An inning later, Gonzalez and Hackworth hit back-to-back home runs to make it a two-run ballgame, 9-7. Halbach came up clutch once again in the bottom of the eighth, knocking an RBI single to pull the Tritons within one, 9-8. Lomanto came to the plate as a pinch-hitter with two outs and sent a ball flying over the right field wall to give UC San Diego its first lead of the day, 10-9. 
 
Eyanson shut down the Titans in his final two innings of work, giving way to a clean inning for Seid in the eighth. After pitching 3.2 innings the night before, Martinez came in for the ninth and sat the Titans down in order. The senior lefthander secured back-to-back strikeouts before forcing a pop-up for the final out and his fifth save of the season.
 
QUOTABLE
"That was a really grind it out type of game," said Newman. "You could see in batting practice the park was going to be offensive today and I told our coaches going into it that 5 run leads were more like 1 run leads. That said I didn't anticipate being down 5-0 after the top of the 1st!! The guys did a really good job today of having tough at bats and continuing to play through the tough start. I can't really ask for a milestone type of victory going any other way than that!"
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• With the win, head coach Eric Newman recorded his 500th career victory. He also recorded his 400th UC San Diego win earlier this season against Stephen F. Austin on Mar. 3. Newman currently holds a 405-244 (.620) record at UC San Diego and a 500-316 (.609) all-time career record after coaching three seasons at Dallas Baptist (2005-2007).
• It was the second pinch-hit home run of the week for Colton Lomanto and second eventual game-winner (Mar. 11 vs Nevada, W 7-6).
• UC San Diego's five homers tied for the most in a single game in the Tritons' all-time record books. It ties their performance last season at Cal State Fullerton on May 13, 2023 in an 11-2 victory.
• Izaak Martinez lowered his ERA to 0.39 in the contest which currently ranks first. He also leads the Big West with five saves.
• With the win, the Tritons are now 9-5 all-time against Cal State Fullerton and 1-1 in the weekend series.
• UC San Diego is now 4-4 in one-run decisions this season.

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will wrap up their first conference series of the season on Sunday, facing off for the final time with Cal State Fullerton at 1 p.m. in Triton Ballpark. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live statistics 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.