RIVERSIDE, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball defeated UC Riverside, 11-0, on Friday evening at Riverside Sports Complex. The Tritons (19-18, 9-8 Big West) earned their second shutout of the seasons, blanking the Highlanders (12-24, 3-16 Big West) to secure the series victory, 2-0.
 
Starter Nic Gregson (1-1) turned in his best performance of the season, pitching 5.0 innings and allowing just two hits, no runs, no walks and five strikeouts. Spencer Seid earned his first save of the season, pitching the final 4.0 in relief and allowing three hits, no runs, one walk and seven strikeouts. 
 
Gabe Camacho led the team with five RBI, finishing 2-for-4 with a home run. Colton Lomanto remained hot at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Alex Leopard also finished 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, an RBI and two runs scored. Cooper Thacker also knocked a home run in the contest.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
For the second night in a row, the Tritons got on the board first with a solo home run. This time it was Thacker with a leadoff shot in the top of the third. Lomanto knocked an infield single to bring in Emiliano Gonzalez before Camacho hit a three-run shot to make it 5-0.
 
Gregson was lights out on the mound, retiring the first four batters in order before a one out single in the second. He went on to sit the next seven Highlanders in order before another single in the fourth, this time with two outs. Gregson retired the side in order in the first, third and fifth innings to maintain the shutout. 
 
The Tritons added to their lead in the fourth inning when Anthony Potestio grounded into a double play with the bases loaded to score Patrick Hackworth from third.
 
UC San Diego hung five runs on the board again in the sixth, beginning with a bases-loaded single by Leopard to score Potestio. Another single by Lomanto scored Michael Crossland to make it 8-0. Camacho then singled through the right side to score two more runs, bringing the total to 10. J.C. Allen brought in the final run of the inning, reaching on a fielder's choice to score Lomanto from third.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, Seid picked up where Gregson left off, going three-up, three-down to start his outing. After a strikeout to start the seventh, Seid gave up a pair of singles before locking down back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning. 
 
A leadoff walk in the bottom of the eighth did no damage as the next Highlander ground into a double play and another Seid strikeout ended the inning without a run. UC Riverside threatened in the bottom of the ninth with two runners in scoring position with two outs, but another Seid strikeout ended the contest and secured the shutout.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Gabe Camacho recorded a season high with five RBI.
• The Tritons now have 59 home runs this season and are 19 away from the program's all-time single season record (78 in 2018). 
• UC San Diego used two pitchers in the contest, Nic Gregson and Spencer Seid.
  • It was the second shutout of the season for the Tritons.
• It marked the 10th game with one or fewer walks given up by Triton pitching.
• It marked the fifth straight game with 12 or more hits for the Tritons.
• UC San Diego is now 14-2 in the Division I series with UC Riverside and 2-0 in the weekend series.

UP NEXT
The Tritons will remain at UC Riverside for final game of the weekend series on Saturday at 1 p.m. The game 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.