LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball was dominant in the series finale with UC Riverside, earning a 20-2 victory on Monday evening in Triton Ballpark. With the win, the Tritons (19-6, 6-3 Big West) recorded their fourth series sweep—first in Big West play—after taking Thursday's and Friday's contests over the Highlanders (9-15, 0-6 Big West).
 
Bradlee Preap led the Triton offense, finishing 3-for-5 with three RBI, one run scored and a walk. Emiliano Gonzalez was also responsible for three RBI and a run scored, along with Kerim Orucevic. Brock Kleszcz went 2-for-2 after coming in as a pinch hitter in the seventh and recorded two RBI and a run scored, while Noah Sudya went 2-for-2 with an RBI, two runs scored and two walks. Seven different Tritons hit a double in the 16-hit affair.
 
Starter Matthew Dalquist (4-0) earned the victory, pitching 5.0 innings and allowing one run on three hits with no walks and four strikeouts. Four Tritons pitched out of the bullpen, including Spencer Seid, Nathan Huy, Xavier Franco and Donovan Chriss combining to allow one run on two hits with no walks and four strikeouts.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC Riverside got on the board in the top of the first, scoring on an RBI ground-out to take the early 1-0 lead. The Tritons responded immediately in the bottom of the inning, scoring on an RBI triple by Crossland and a sac-fly by Gonzalez to take the lead, 2-1.
 
After allowing a leadoff single in the top of the second, Dalquist retired the next 10 Highlanders in order in another dominant performance on the mound. 
 
UC San Diego added to its lead in the bottom of the third, scoring four runs on three hits and one error to lead 4-1. Gonzalez knocked a two RBI double to right-center field, following by a throwing error on a failed pick-off attempt that scored Gonzalez from third. UC San Diego added one more run in the inning with an RBI single by Lomanto.

The Tritons scored three more runs the following inning, highlighted by a two-RBI double to center field by Preap. Kleszcz hit a pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh and UC San Diego built a commanding 10-1 lead. 
 
After allowing a run in the first, UC San Diego's pitching staff and the Triton defense allowed just two batters over the minimum through the eighth inning. Spencer Seid and Xavier Franco were perfect in the sixth and eighth innings respectively, with Franco ringing up back-to-back strikeouts in the eighth.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, the Triton offense rallied once again, scoring nine runs of five hits and no errors. The inning was highlighted by a bases-clearing three-RBI double for Kerim Orucevic, RBI doubles for Delshaun Lanier and Kleszcz and RBI singles for Doyle Kane and Preap. With the offensive onslaught, UC San Diego built a 20-1 lead by the time the inning was done.
 
UC Riverside hit a leadoff home run to begin the ninth inning before Donovan Chriss retired the Highlanders in order capped by a strikeout to end the game.
 
QUOTABLE
"I thought the guys did a good job in this series," said head coach Eric Newman. "Obviously the schedule got wonky and we had to deal with some rain, so credit to our guys for showing up—had a couple days off and came back out today ready to go. 
 
It's a really good springboard into this week. This is a five-game week for us with some quality opponents on the road. We want to make sure that we're taking our momentum into the next game, into the next day. I told them we need to enjoy this one and then turn the page quickly because we go on the road at USC and Long Beach State this weekend and those are important games for us to come back and be ready to go."

TRITON TIDBITS

• UC San Diego's 20 runs were the third-most by any team in the Big West this season, a season high for the Tritons and their first 20-run game since Feb. 19, 2022 (22-10 vs Seattle). The program has had three 20-run games in the Division I era.
• Seven different Tritons hit a double in the contest. It ranks second-most in the Big West this season. 
• Eleven different Tritons recorded a hit. The 16 hits were the second-most for UC San Diego this season.
• UC San Diego moved to 15-15 in the all-time series against UC Riverside, 12-2 in the Division I series and 3-0 for the weekend.
• Monday's finale was originally scheduled for Saturday, Mar. 30 but had to be moved due to weather. 

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will travel for a midweek matchup against USC on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Loyola Marymount's home field in Los Angeles. The game was originally scheduled earlier in the season but was postponed due to weather. The game will be broadcast on the USC Live Stream 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.