PHOENIX—UC San Diego baseball fell to Arizona State, 15-5, in seven innings on Tuesday evening in Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The Tritons (26-15) dropped the shortened contest via run rule to the Sun Devils (23-22) in the first of two games against ASU.
 
Anthony Potestio finished 3-for-3 with a double, while Andy Ambriz knocked a two-run homerun—his first as a Triton. Michael Crossland and Brock Kleszcz were each credited with an RBI double in the contest.
 
Starter Zack Ernisse (1-3) was credited with the loss, pitching 4.0 innings and allowing seven runs on five hits with five walks and six strikeouts.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego got on the board early with an RBI double by Crossland in the top of the first. ASU responded in the bottom of the inning to claim the lead, 2-1, with a two-run homer. 
 
The Tritons jumped back in front in the second with a two-run knock over the wall in right-center by Ambriz. UC San Diego added to its lead an inning later when Potestio scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-2.
 
After a quiet second inning, the Sun Devils scored in each of the next five innings. ASU put up four runs in the third, one in the fourth, three runs in the fifth, one in the sixth and four in the seventh. 
 
UC San Diego had runners reach in the fifth and sixth, but the Tritons were unable to cash in. With two on and two out in the seventh, Kleszcz doubled down the right field line to bring in the fifth run for the Tritons but they still trailed 11-5.
 
The Sun Devils crossed four runs in the bottom of the seventh, all with two outs to extend their lead to 10 runs and end the game in seven innings. 
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• It was the second 3-for-3 performance of the season for Anthony Potestio, who also went 2-for-2 in his previous outing against Hawai'i on April 28.
• Andy Ambriz knocked his first home run in a UC San Diego uniform.
• Joel Tornero made his first appearance of the season.
• It was the first all-time meeting between UC San Diego and Arizona State.

UP NEXT
UC San Diego will remain in Phoenix for the second game of the midweek series with Arizona State on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks 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.