LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball's J.C. Allen and Michael Crossland were named to the Big West Baseball Preseason Coaches' Team and the Tritons were picked to finish sixth in the Coaches' Preseason Poll, as announced by the conference on Friday.
 
Eleven scholar-athletes were recognized by the conference's 11 head coaches, with six pitchers, three infielders and two outfielders earning a spot on the preseason team. The Tritons were one of four teams with multiple honorees, including Hawai'i (3), Cal Poly (2) and UC Irvine (2).
 
Third baseman J.C. Allen was a standout in his first season in La Jolla, starting 48 of the Tritons' 51 games and finishing second on the team with 14 home runs. Allen led the team in runs batted in (53) and doubles (16), with both numbers ranking fourth in the Big West at the end of the regular season. The rising senior recorded a .304 batting average and .394 on base percentage, with a .620 slugging percentage good enough for fourth in the conference as well.
 
Allen was red hot down the final stretch of the regular season, collecting 21 RBI in the last 10 games and recording at least one in nine of the 10 contests. Allen also knocked six homers in the last six games to end the season, including the final long ball of the season to set the UC San Diego single season team record with 80 home runs.

Centerfielder Michael Crossland had a record-setting sophomore season, leading the team in most statistical categories. The rising junior was tops on the team in batting average (.341), slugging percentage (.644), hits (70), home runs (15), runs scored (49), total bases (132) and games started (50) and second in doubles (15), RBI (44) and stolen bases (6). At the conclusion of the regular season, Crossland ranked first in the Big West in slugging percentage and home runs, second in total bases, fourth in OPS (1.079), seventh in runs scored, eighth in hits and 11th in batting average and RBI. 
 
Crossland set the Tritons' Division I record with 15 homers, which is tied for second all-time in the UC San Diego single season record book. Crossland was also responsible for hitting the record-breaking 79th home run in the final game of the season to help the Tritons' break the all-time single season team home run record. UC San Diego finished the year with 80 home runs in 50 games.
 
In the preseason poll, UC Santa Barbara was picked to finish first with 95 points and five of the 11 first-place votes, followed by Cal Poly with 89 points and five first-place votes as well. UC Irvine rounded out the top three with 86 points and the remaining first-place vote.
 
Cal State Fullerton and Hawai'i were tied in fourth with 67 points apiece, followed by UC San Diego (60 points), Long Beach State (41), UC Davis (40), CSUN (25), Cal State Bakersfield (22) and UC Riverside (13).

The Tritons add 17 talented newcomers to their roster in 2026, including four junior college transfers, two Division I and one Division II transfer as well as 10 true freshmen.
 
Last season the Tritons went 26-25 overall and 15-15 in Big West play, finishing just one win short of qualification for the Big West Championship. The Tritons set the program's all-time record with 80 home runs, ranking in the top-50 in the nation. UC San Diego returns five of its seven All-Big West honorees from 2025, including first-teamers J.C. Allen, Gabe Camacho and Michael Crossland.
 
UC San Diego is slated for one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country in 2026. The Tritons will face six opponents that competed in the 2025 NCAA Baseball Championship, including Regional participants Cal Poly, Cincinnati, Creighton, UC Irvine and Oregon, as well as starting the season at No. 1 UCLA who advanced to the CWS in Omaha.
 
2026 Big West Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll

Rank	Institution	Points (First Place)
1	UC Santa Barbara	95 (5)
2	Cal Poly	89 (5)
3	UC Irvine	86 (1)
T-4	Cal State Fullerton	67
T-4	Hawai'i	67
6	UC San Diego	60
7	Long Beach State	41
8	UC Davis	40
9	CSUN	25
10	Cal State Bakersfield	22
11	UC Riverside	13

 
2026 Big West Baseball Preseason Team

Name	School	Pos.	Yr.
J.C. Allen	UC San Diego	INF	Sr.
Michael Crossland	UC San Diego	OF	Jr.
Jackson Flora	UC Santa Barbara	RHP	Jr.
Alejandro Garza	Cal Poly	3B	Jr.
Trevor Hansen	UC Irvine	RHP	Jr.
Elijah Ickes	Hawai'i	INF	Jr.
Andrew Kirchner	Cal State Fullerton	LHP	Sr.
Isaiah Magdaleno	Hawai'i	RHP	Jr.
Griffin Naess	Cal Poly	RHP	Jr.
Ricky Ojeda	UC Irvine	LHP	Jr.
Ben Zeigler-Namoa	Hawai'i	OF/INF	Gr.

 
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.