SANTA CLARA, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball defeated Santa Clara, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon in Schott Stadium. The Tritons (14-13) took the finale of the four-game series with the Broncos (12-12) to move to 1-3 for the weekend.
 
Michael Crossland finished 2-for-5 with a run scored, while Patrick Hackworth went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk. Thomas Maher led the team with two RBI, finishing 1-for-3 with two walks. Starter Steele Murdock pitched 4.0 innings, allowing one run on two hits with three walks and one strikeout, while Garrett Davidson (4-0) earned the victory with 3.0 innings allowing one unearned run on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Sam Hasegawa earned his second save, getting the final two outs and closing out the contest with a strikeout.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego got on the board with a run in the top of the first when J.C. Allen reached on a fielding error to score Anthony Potestio after a leadoff walk. The Broncos tied the game in the bottom of the third with an RBI single to make it 1-1.
 
The Tritons loaded the bases in the top of the fourth with two outs but a fly-out to center field ended the inning without a run. 
 
UC San Diego cashed in an inning later, scoring four runs on three hits and one error. The Tritons loaded the bases with no outs, but it seemed as if they would come up empty once again after back-to-back strikeouts. Cooper Thacker drew a walk to bring in the first run of the inning. Hackworth hit an infield single to third base to plate the second run of the inning before Maher drove in two more with a single to left field. It was the first collegiate hit for the true freshman to make it, 5-1. 
 
Santa Clara got a run back in the bottom of the fifth after a bases-loaded ground-out made it 5-2. Davidson, Chapman Weber and Hasegawa combined to shut out the Broncos in the final four innings to secure the victory.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Thomas Maher made his first collegiate start at third base and recorded his first hit and run batted in in the contest.
• UC San Diego used four pitchers in the contest, including Steele Murdock, Garrett Davidson, Chapman Weber and Sam Hasegawa.
• The Tritons snapped a five-game losing streak with the victory.
• The Tritons moved to 1-3 in the weekend series with Santa Clara and 4-10 in the all-time series.

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will return to Big West play on the road at first-place Cal Poly next weekend, beginning Friday at 6 p.m. The games will be streamed on ESPN+ 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 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 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned 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.