SAN DIEGO—UC San Diego baseball put together a dominant performance on Tuesday evening in Tony Gwynn Stadium, defeating San Diego State, 14-3, in seven innings. The Tritons (17-18, 7-8 Big West) hit five home runs and held a no-hitter through six innings before securing the run-rule victory over the Aztecs (11-26).
 
Anthony Potestio finished 4-for-6 with a double, a home run, two RBI and two runs scored. Colton Lomanto reached base in all five at-bats, finishing 3-for-3 with two walks, two doubles, a home run, three RBI and three runs scored. Michael Crossland, Alex Leopard and Trevian Martinez also knocked home runs in the contest.
 
Starter Nathan Ries (2-2) earned the win in the abbreviated contest, pitching 4.0 innings of hitless baseball and collecting six strikeouts with three walks. Julian Cazares pitched 2.0 shutout innings in relief, allowing one hit and collecting one strikeout. Garrett Davidson pitched the final inning, allowing three runs—two earned—on four hits. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons took the lead in the top of the first,1-0, with an RBI double by Lomanto and threatened for more but left the bases loaded. Two innings later, UC San Diego added to its lead with back-to-back home runs by Leopard and Lomanto. Patrick Hackworth tacked on another run with a sacrifice fly to score J.C. Allen and give the Tritons a 4-0 advantage.
 
After giving up a leadoff walk to start the contest, Ries locked in to retire the next 10 batters in order through the first out of the fourth. After a pair of walks he retired the next two batters to secure the no-hitter. 
 
Emiliano Gonzalez added a run in the fourth with a double down the left field line to score Crossland and make it 5-0.
 
The Tritons did most of their damage in the fifth inning, scoring five runs on six hits to take a 10-0 lead. Potestio hit a two-run homer to right field and Crossland immediately followed with a solo shot to left field—the second time the Tritons went back-to-back in the contest. Lomanto knocked his second RBI double of the night to score Gonzalez and J.C. Allen singled up the middle to bring in Lomanto to bring the run total to 10.
 
Cazares took over for Ries in the bottom of the fifth and retired five batters in order before giving up the first hit for the Aztecs with two outs in the sixth. 
 
UC San Diego rallied one last time in the top of the seventh, scoring four runs to make it 14-0. Leopard was hit by a pitch and Lomanto walked to put two runners on for pinch-hitter Martinez who homered over the left field wall. The Tritons loaded the bases after a walk and two hit batters before a wild pitch scored Jayden Lee from third.
 
After Davidson and the Tritons got two quick outs, the  Aztecs broke through in the bottom of the seventh, scoring three runs on four hits and one error to end the shutout. With the 10-run rule in effect, a fielder's choice ended the ballgame with the Tritons on top, 14-3.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• UC San Diego's five home runs matched the program's Division I single game record (3/16/24 vs Cal St. Fullerton & 5/13/23 vs Cal St. Fullerton).
  • The Tritons currently lead the Big West with 56 home runs.
• Michael Crossland ranks first in the conference with 11 home runs which is a new season record for the Tritons in the D-I era.
• UC San Diego used three pitchers in the contest, including Nathan Ries, Julian Cazares and Garrett Davidson.
• The Tritons have combined for 37 runs in their last two contests and 46 in their last three games.
• UC San Diego is now 8-8 in the Division I series with San Diego State and 1-1 this season.

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will travel to UC Riverside for a three game series, Thursday through Saturday. The games will be broadcast 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.