LOS ANGELES— UC San Diego baseball defeated No. 1 UCLA, 8-7, on Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Tritons' (1-2) knocked four home runs to take the series finale with the Bruins (2-1).
 
Michael Crossland finished the day 2-for-5 with two solo home runs, while Game Camacho went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run. Alex Leopard also had a multi-hit day, going 2-for-4 with one run scored and Nick Costello hit the game-winner, a two-run homer in the ninth. Costello finished 1-for-3 with a pair of walks and Anthony Potestio finished with three walks and one run scored.
 
Starter Austin Bowker went 2.0 innings in his first appearance for the Tritons, facing the minimum to start his collegiate career. Sophomore Nathan Ries ate up the most innings for UC San Diego, pitching 4 2/3 innings and allowing four runs on five hits with three walks. True freshmen Connor Etnire and Kayden Henson closed out the game for UC San Diego, with Etnire earning his first collegiate win and Henson securing his first career save.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons threatened early with two runners on with no outs in the top of the first, but a pop-up, a strikeout and a fly-out ended the inning without a run. In his first collegiate appearance Bowker and the Tritons retired the top of the Bruin lineup in order, with three defensive plays from Potestio. 
 
UC San Diego got another runner in the top of the second with two outs, but were unable to cash in once again. After issuing a leadoff walk, Bowker faced the minimum in the second as well, forcing a flyout to left field and a 6-4-3 double play to keep it scoreless through two.
 
The Tritons broke through in the third with a two-out solo shot by Crossland over the left field wall. In the bottom of the inning, UC San Diego retired the Bruins in order once again to maintain a 1-0 advantage.  The Tritons threatened again in the fourth with two on and one out, but a fly-out and strikeout ended the inning. An RBI double for the Bruins tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning.
 
Crossland came up big once again with a leadoff homer in the top of the fifth. Martinez brought in J.C. Allen with a two-out single and the Tritons led 3-1. UCLA punched back in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer to tie it once again, 3-3. The Bruins took their only lead of the contest in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single to pull in front 4-3.
 
UC San Diego responded right away in the top of the eighth, with Bryan Bradshaw and Anthony Potestio recording back-to-back walks on 11 pitches and six pitches respectively. Camacho then homered to left center to give the Tritons the advantage once again, 6-4. The back-and-forth continued when UCLA hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning to tie the game for the third time, 6-6.
 
In the top of the ninth, Leopard knocked a leadoff single to left field to start the late rally for UC San Diego. Two outs later, Costello sent a towering shot over the wall in right field to put the Tritons on top for good, 8-6. Henson came in to pitch the ninth for UC San Diego, securing two quick outs with a fly-out and strikeout. The Bruins got a run back on a solo homer, but a fly-out to Costello in right field secured the victory for the Tritons.
 
QUOTABLE
"Weekends like this are really important," said UC San Diego head coach Eric Newman. "The experience of this was great for our team. We're agoing to learn so much from this that we can carry through the rest of our season. Obviously, getting the win is huge. Our guys showing up on Sunday and just continuing to fight is a huge testament to what we're trying to build and how much they're into this. I'm super proud of the way we fought today, and these experiences are going to be so great for us as we go forward in the season and into league. You can learn so much. It was a good weekend for us, regardless of how it came out, just the way that we fought today was great for us to see."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• The win marked the highest ranked opponent the Tritons have defeated in the program's Division I era. 
• Michael Crossland tallied a pair of home runs, his first of the 2026 season. Nick Costello also knocked his first home run of the season and Gabe Camacho knocked his second of the weekend.
• The Tritons used six pitchers, including Austin Bowker, Nathan Ries, Quincey Brown, Jake Villar, Connor Etnire and Kayden Henson.
• UC San Diego is 1-4 in the all-time series with UCLA and 1-2 in Division I. 

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will open their home schedule in La Jolla, hosting the Tony Gwynn Legacy event with five games in Triton Ballpark. UC San Diego will face Utah on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 6 p.m., Creighton on Feb. 20 at 6 p.m., BYU on Feb. 21 at 3 p.m. and wrap up the weekend against Western Michigan on Feb. 22 at 1 p.m.
 
The Tritons will also host one neutral matchup involving Omaha and Western Michigan on Feb. 20 at 1 p.m. UC San Diego's games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live statistics will be available for all games 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.