LONG BEACH, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball defeated Long Beach State, 6-3, on Sunday afternoon at Blair Field. The Tritons (21-8, 8-4 Big West) earned their third Big West series victory, taking two of three games against the Dirtbags (16-12-1, 5-7 Big West).
 
Starter Matthew Dalquist (5-0) went 7.0 innings, allowing three runs on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. Izaak Martinez earned his seven save, pitching the final two scoreless innings, allowing two hits, striking out one and facing one batter over the minimum.
 
Michael Crossland finished 2-for-5 and two RBI and Doyle Kane went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Brock Kleszcz also recorded two RBI, going 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Dirtbags took the early lead, hanging two runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning. 
 
UC San Diego responded right away, scoring four runs on three hits in the top of the second to take the lead, 4-2. With two on and two outs, Kleszcz hit a two-RBI double to center to tie the game. After a walk and a hit batter loaded the bases, Crossland singled through the right side to bring in two more runs and give the Tritons the lead.
 
After giving up the two runs in the first, Dalquist retired eight Dirtbags in a row and faced the minimum through the fourth inning.
 
The Tritons added to their lead in the top of the fifth after advancing two runners into scoring position with one out. Kane singled through the left side to bring in Nick Costello and make it 5-2. Long Beach State responded in the bottom of the inning with a two-out solo home run, but Dalquist ended the inning with a strikeout and UC San Diego maintained a two-run lead, 5-3.
 
Dalquist retired the Dirtbags in order again in the bottom of the sixth and faced the minimum again in the seventh.
 
UC San Diego added an insurance run in the top of the eighth after Emiliano Gonzalez advanced to third with two outs. Noah Sudyka hit an infield single to bring Gonzalez home and make it 6-3. 
 
Martinez entered for Dalquist in the bottom of the eighth and despite allowing two hits in the inning, the redshirt senior forced the Dirtbags to hit into a double play and a pop-up to hold LBSU off the board. In the bottom of the ninth, Martinez retired Long Beach State in order, including a strikeout to end the contest and secure his seventh save.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Michael Crossland and Doyle Kane had multi-hit performances and Crossland and Brock Kleszcz were credited with multiple RBI.
• In his second appearance of the weekend, Izaak Martinez lowered his ERA to 0.49 which ranks first in the nation. He also recorded his seventh save which leads the Big West.
• UC San Diego moved to 8-5 in the all-time series against Long Beach State and 2-1 in the weekend series.

UP NEXT
UC San Diego will return home for a busy week of five games in Triton Ballpark, playing host to USD and San Diego State in midweek games on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. The Tritons will host Big West-leader UC Irvine for a weekend series beginning Friday. The games 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.