LA JOLLA, Calif. — UC San Diego baseball defeated UC Riverside, 12-6, in the Big West home opener on Friday evening in Triton Ballpark. The Tritons (8-10, 4-0 Big West) secured head coach
Eric Newman his 455th career victory at UC San Diego, making him the winningest coach in program history—surpassing Dan O'Brien (1998-2010).
UC San Diego's potent offense was highlighted by a six-run outburst in the sixth inning, contributing to its 10-hit performance.
Delshaun Lanier powered the offense with a grand slam, driving in five runs for the evening and scoring twice in the game.
Addison Klepsch recorded a home run and a double, contributing three RBI and scoring twice in his five plate appearances.
Steele Murdock (2-1) pitched 6 innings, allowing three hits and one earned run while striking out eight batters.
Jake Villar was effective in relief, striking out three batters in 1.0 inning while giving up one hit.
Quincey Brown closed the game by striking out one batter in 1/3 of an inning, successfully retiring both batters he faced.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons took an early lead in the first inning as
Anthony Potestio scored on a sacrifice fly by
Gabe Camacho, putting them ahead 1-0. The Highlanders (6-15, 1-3 Big West) equalized in the second inning with a solo home run, bringing the game to a 1-1 tie.
The game remained tied until the fifth inning when the Tritons' offense erupted. Lanier hit a grand slam to left field, scoring
J.C. Allen,
Alex Leopard, and
Trevian Martinez. This was followed by Klepsch doubling to left field, but the inning ended with a caught stealing. UC San Diego led 5-1 after five innings.
In the sixth inning, the Tritons added six more runs. Allen tripled and scored on a single by Leopard.
Nick Costello and Lanier each contributed with RBI singles, and Klepsch capped the inning with a three-run homer, extending the lead to 11-1 through six innings.
UCR managed to score two runs in the eighth inning. Evan Hall doubled to bring in one run, and Miles Scott singled to bring in another, making it 11-3. The Tritons added one more run in the bottom of the eighth as Klepsch scored after Camacho was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, bringing the score to 12-3.
The Highlanders attempted a comeback in the ninth with a two-RBI double by Ty Walton and another run scored on an error. However, the Tritons secured a 12-6 victory to begin the series.
TRITON TIDBITS
- Delshaun Lanier recorded a career-high five RBI and his first collegiate grand slam.
- Addison Klepsch knocked his first home run in a Triton uniform in the contest.
- The Tritons used five pitchers in the contest, including Steele Murdock, Jake Villar, Harry Pelzman, Chapman Weber and Quincey Brown.
- With the victory, head coach Eric Newman surpassed Dan O'Brien with 455 career wins at UC San Diego, making him the program's winningest coach.
- UC San Diego is now 18-16 in the all-time series and 15-3 in D-I against UC Riverside.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will continue the weekend series with UC Riverside 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.
