LONG BEACH, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball defeated Long Beach State, 5-1, on Friday evening at Blair Field. The Tritons (20-7, 7-3 Big West) limited the Dirtbags (15-11-1, 4-6 Big West) to just two hits in their 20th victory of the season.
 
Starter Anthony Eyanson (4-1) was excellent on the mound for the Tritons, pitching 6.1 inning and allowing one hit, one run and striking out eight. He did not allow a hit through the first five innings. Izaak Martinez pitched 2.2 shutout innings in relief, allowing one hit with three strikeouts.
 
Brock Kleszcz was responsible for four of UC San Diego's five runs, finishing the night 2-for-3 with two two-run home runs and a walk. Noah Sudyka and Benjamin Rosengard also finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored respectively. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons got on the board early in the top of the second with a two-run homer to left field by Kleszcz for a 2-0 lead. UC San Diego had base runners again in the third and the fifth innings but the Tritons were unable to add to their lead.
 
Eyanson did not allow a hit through the first five innings before giving up a leadoff single in the sixth to break up the no-hitter. He faced just three batters over the minimum during that span, retiring LBSU in order in the second, third and fourth innings. 
 
Long Beach State got on the board in the bottom of the sixth after a runner stole home to make it 2-1.
 
UC San Diego responded right away in the top of the seventh when Kleszcz hit his second two-run home run of the game. After Rosengard walked and advanced to third on a wild pitch/throwing error, Sudyka brought him home with an RBI single to make it 5-1. UC San Diego threatened for more, loading the bases with two outs after back-to-back walks but the inning ended without another run.
 
After Eyanson retired the first Long Beach batter in the seventh via strikeout, Martinez entered out of the bullpen and recorded back-to-back strikeouts to retire the Dirtbags in order.
 
In the top of the ninth, the Tritons advanced a runner to third with two outs but were unable to bring him home. After allowing a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth, Martinez tallied the final two outs to secure the victory.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Anthony Eyanson matched his season high with eight strikeouts for the third time this season—one shy of his career high. 
• Brock Kleszcz's two homers are the first time a Tritons has gone yard twice in a game since Ryson Ujimori at Cal State Fullerton (May 13, 2023).
  • It was the first time Kleszcz has recorded four RBI in a contest, tallying three runs batted in twice before.
• Izaak Martinez's 2.2 scoreless innings lowered his ERA to 0.51 which currently leads the NCAA. 
• UC San Diego moved to 7-4 in the all-time series against Long Beach State.

UP NEXT
The Tritons will face off once again with Long Beach State on Saturday at 6 p.m. Saturday's game will be the only streamed event of the weekend and 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.