LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego baseball secured a walk-off victory, 6-5, over Loyola Marymount on Monday night in Triton Ballpark. The Tritons (20-19, 9-9 Big West) scored three runs in the final two innings to complete the comeback over the Lions (22-19, 9-6 WCC).
Patrick Hackworth hit the Tritons' first inside-the-park home run since 2013 as a part of his 2-for-3 campaign.
Alex Leopard went 2-for-4, highlighted by the game-winning two-RBI double.
Anthony Potestio and
Garrett Davidson notched an RBI each.
Nathan Ries started on the mound, throwing a career-high eight strikeouts and no walks, while giving up six hits and a run in five innings.
Ethan Remmers pitched the beginning of the sixth, recording a walk, hit and run.
Devon King pitched an inning, wherein he struck out two, walked one, and gave up one hit.
Landon Marchetti came in for the seventh and eighth innings, striking out two, walking one, and giving up one run.
Chapman Weber finished the eighth, before
Zack Ernisse (1-0) picked up the ninth inning and win with two strikeouts.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Potestio sent
Cooper Thacker home with a bases-loaded walk to go up 1-0 in the second inning. In the next inning, Thacker gunned a throw from left field to beat out the Lions runner at home and Ries struck out another to get out of a jam and keep the visitors scoreless.
In the fourth inning, Thacker stole second and made it home on a wild pitch to give UC San Diego a 2-0 advantage. However, LMU got a run back in the fifth with an RBI single up the middle to make it 2-1.
The Lions captured the lead in the sixth inning, scoring two runs on one hit and one error to make it 3-2. Hackworth tied it back up with an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the inning.
The visitors racked up another run in the seventh inning after a bases-loaded walk to reclaim the lead, 4-3. The following inning yielded another Lion run on a single to make it 5-3 before Weber subbed in to close the inning with a flyout.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Tritons cut the lead to one with a Davidson RBI single. A pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Leopard, who cracked a deep right field double to score two runs and walk it off 6-5.
TRITON TIDBITS
- Nathan Ries recorded a career-high eight strikeouts on Monday.
- Patrick Hackworth recorded the first inside-the-park home run for the Tritons since Gradeigh Sanchez vs Cal State East Bay (March 28, 2013).
- It was the second walk-off victory for the Tritons who are 5-5 in one-run games this season.
- This is the first time the Tritons have played a game on Monday this season.
- Cooper Thacker stole his first base of his Triton career on Monday.
- UC San Diego is now 2-0 against LMU; the Tritons took a 7-5 home win on Feb. 25, 2024.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego gets back into Big West play with a three-game series against UC Santa Barbara starting on Friday. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. and 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 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.
