NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — UC San Diego baseball secured a high-scoring 17-16 win over CSUN on Friday evening at Hiegert Field. The game featured five home runs by the Tritons (5-10, 1-0 Big West), contributing to its victory in a back-and-forth contest with the Matadors (10-7, 2-2 Big West).
 
Gabe Camacho recorded four hits, including two home runs, and drove in four runs, while Michael Crossland added to the team's offense with two RBIs and a home run, contributing three runs in total. J.C. Allen posted four hits with two doubles and a home run while driving in four runs. Anthony Potestio made an impact by drawing four walks and crossing the plate four times.
 
Righthander Steele Murdock started on the mound, throwing for 5 1/3 innings and striking out seven batters. Murdock held the Matadors to just one run and two hits through five innings before getting touched up in the sixth for four more runs. Julian Cazares (1-0)closed the game with 1 2/3 innings, recording four strikeouts and allowing one unearned run, despite inheriting three runners.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego opened the scoring in the first inning when Alex Leopard singled to right field, allowing Potestio to score after reaching base on a walk, making it 1-0. In the second inning, the Matadors tied the game, 1-1, scoring one run on an RBI single. 
 
The Tritons regained the lead in the third inning, 3-1, when Camacho homered to right field, and Leopard later scored on a balk after doubling and advancing to third on a wild pitch. Nick Costello hit a solo home run to right field in the fourth and the Tritons added another run in the fifth when Allen doubled and was driven in by Leopard's single up the middle, making it 5-1.
 
The sixth inning saw a flurry of scoring from both teams. Allen hit a three-run homer for the Tritons, followed by two unearned runs due to a fielding error, bringing their total to five runs in the inning for a 10-1 advantage. CSUN responded with five runs of its own, including a two-run homer and a series of singles and a bases-loaded walk to make it 10-6 in favor of the visitors.
 
In the seventh inning, UC San Diego scored two more runs with a two-run homer by Crossland. However, CSUN answered back with five runs, including a three-run homer, tying the game at 11-11.
 
The eighth inning was another high-scoring affair. The Tritons took a 15-11 lead after scoring three runs, with key hits from Camacho and Allen. The Matadors, however, matched their effort with four runs, tying the game at 15-15.
 
In the ninth inning, Camacho hit a two-run homer to put the Tritons ahead for good. The Matadors managed one run in the bottom half due to a fielding error, but UC San Diego held on for a 17-16 victory.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Gabe Camacho now leads the Big West with 23 runs batted in and leads the conference in home runs (8).  
• Michael Crossland recorded his fourth homer of the season and J.C. Allen and Nick Costello tallied their third.
• The Tritons used five pitchers in the contest, including Steele Murdock, Ethan Russell, Nathan Ries, Devon King and Julian Cazares.
• UC San Diego is now 10-7 in the all-time series with CSUN.

 
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will remain at CSUN for game two of the weekend series on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live statistics will be available via UCSDTritons.com.
 
Article partially generated with FanWord.
 
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.