LA JOLLA, Calif.— UC San Diego baseball dropped a 7-3 decision to CSUN on Friday evening in Triton Ballpark. With the loss, the Tritons (14-18, 5-8 Big West) moved to 7-7 in the all-time series with the Matadors (8-21, 4-12 Big West).
 
Emiliano Gonzalez starred with the bats, going 3-for-4 and accounting for all three of the Tritons runs with an RBI single and two solo home runs. Colton Lomanto recorded a double, finishing 1-for-4 with the only other extra-base hit for UC San Diego.
 
Matthew Dalquist (3-4) made his ninth start on the mound, recording seven strikeouts and no walks, while giving up six runs (three earned) and eight hits. Julian Cazares stepped in for the seventh inning, throwing a strikeout before Zack Ernisse struck out two in the eighth inning. Sam Hasegawa finished the game, giving up two hits and a run. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED 
The Tritons got on the board first with an RBI single to deep leftfield by Gonzalez in the second inning. Gabe Camacho reached base after being hit by a pitch and eventually came around to score on the single. The Matadors responded in the next inning, hitting an RBI double and groundout to tie the game. A solo home run drew the score to 3-1.
 
CSUN threatened another score in the fifth with a runner on third base. However, a pickoff ended the inning scoreless. The Matadors did surge again in the sixth inning with another home run to left field and an RBI single to drive up the score to 6-1. 
 
Cazares stepped onto the mound in the seventh inning, sending three straight batters into the dugout to calm the game down. Gonzalez clawed back with a home run at the bottom of the inning to make it 6-2 going into the eighth inning. 
 
The visitors reached third base off a single, throwing error and wild pitch in the final inning. An ensuing single notched another run. Gonzalez continued to fight back with another solo shot to right field for the final run of the game. 
 
TRITON TIDBITS 

• Emiliano Gonzalez's two home runs on Friday night brings his season count to seven, a career high; he is now second in the figure behind Michael Crossland's 10 homers. 
• Gonzalez is the fifth Triton to hit two home runs in a contest this season, joining Patrick Hackworth (Feb. 21 vs Pepperdine), Michael Crossland (Mar. 1 vs Cincinnati and Mar. 9 vs Cal State Bakersfield), J.C. Allen (Mar. 2 vs Cincinnati) and Alex Leopard (April 6 vs Cal Poly).
• UC San Diego is now 7-7 all-time against CSUN and 0-1 in the weekend series.
• Michael Crossland and J.C. Allen are the only Tritons to start and play in all 32 of this season's games.  

UP NEXT 
UC San Diego continues its series against CSUN on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and KSDT Radio 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 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.