LA JOLLA, Calif. –UC San Diego baseball claimed the series victory over UC Santa Barbara with a 10-8 win in the Sunday finale at Triton Ballpark. It marks the Tritons' (22-20, 11-10 Big West) first series win over the Gauchos (28-14, 13-11 Big West).
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Michael Crossland led the charge offensively,
collecting five RBI and finishing 3-for-3 with a double.
Leadoff hitter Anthony Potestio went 2-for-6 with two RBI, while
Alex Leopard finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored.
Colton Lomanto recorded his third home run of the series, joining J.C.
Allen and Thomas Maher with one RBI apiece.
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Steele Murdock made his sixth start on Sunday, pitching into the fourth inning, recording a strikeout, three walks and allowing six hits and as many runs.
Sam Hasegawa (3-3) earned the win after taking over through the sixth inning; he threw a strikeout, two walks and conceded two runs and one hit.
Spencer Seid secured the final out of the sixth inning and proceeded to close out the contest, striking out two and walking three, as well as allowing one run in 3.1 innings for his second save.Â
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HOW IT HAPPENEDÂ
A groundout and single got the Gauchos up 2-0 in the second inning. The Tritons tied it up at the bottom of the inning, however, capitalizing on two walks with a Crossland RBI single to shallow left field. Â
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Maher remained patient in a two-out, loaded bases situation, taking a fourth ball to send the Tritons around the bases and give the hosts the lead, 3-2. Potestio followed with a line drive single to right field to send in another two runners. Crossland collected another two RBIs with a double down the left side to make it 7-2 going into the fourth inning.Â
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UC Santa Barbara recouped four runs in the fourth inning with a double, a flyout, a fielder's choice and a single to get within one, 7-6. Crossland notched the lone RBI of the fifth inning with a single up the middle to make it 8-6. The Gauchos momentarily regained the one-run distance in the sixth before Lomanto hit a solo home run to keep it 9-7.Â
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Allen brought in another runner in the eighth inning with an RBI double dribbler to left center field to put UC San Diego up by three, 10-7. The Gauchos clawed back a run in the final inning. However, two flyouts to right field closed out the game with the hosts on top, 10-8.Â
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TRITON TIDBITSÂ
- Colton Lomanto hit his third home run of the series on Sunday and now has seven this season.
- The Tritons have hit 65 home runs this season which leads the Big West. They are 14 home runs away from setting the all-time single season program record (78, 2018).
- Michael Crossland's five RBI is a new career-high for the sophomore.Â
- Sunday's contest had 21 walks (12 for the Tritons, 9 for the Gauchos).Â
- Spencer Seid collected his second save of the season.Â
- UC San Diego is now 3-15 against UC Santa Barbara with their first series win in program history, 2-1.
 UP NEXTÂ
The Tritons will travel to face No. 12 UC Irvine in a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. The games will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live statistics available via UCSDTritons.com.Â
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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 Conference 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 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have garnered 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.
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