CINCINNATI — UC San Diego baseball fell to Cincinnati, 9-5, on Thursday evening at UC Baseball Statdium. After a three-hour rain delay, the Tritons (4-7) managed to hit two home runs but could not overcome the Bearcats' (10-4) 14 hits.
 
Alex Leopard recorded a home run and collected two RBI in his four plate appearances, while Nick Costello contributed with a solo home run. Nathan Ries (0-2) made his first start of the season, pitching four innings, allowing five hits, three earned runs and striking out five batters.
 
Jake Villar entered in relief, allowing four runs on four hits over 1 1/3 innings, and recorded one strikeout. Connor Etnire also pitched 1 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits with one strikeout. Nathan Huy faced just one batter and retired him on two pitches. Ethan Russell closed the game with a perfect inning, striking out one and not allowing any hits.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Costello put UC San Diego on the board in the third inning with a solo home run to deep right field, marking his second of the season. However, the Bearcats responded effectively in the bottom of the inning, plating three runs on an RBI triple and a two-run homer, giving Cincinnati a 3-1 lead.
 
In the fourth inning, the Tritons evened the score when Trevian Martinez singled, and Leopard hit a two-run homer to center field, his first of the season. The score was tied at 3-3 at the inning's conclusion.
 
The Bearcats regained control in the fifth inning. After Jackson Smith was hit by a pitch, Derrick Pitts bunted for a single, setting the stage for Quinton Coats' second home run of the game, a three-run shot that extended UC's lead to 6-3. Cincinnati added one more run in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single, making it 7-3 in favor of the Bearcats.
 
In the seventh inning, the Tritons capitalized on some pitching miscues. Costello and Shane Cannon reached base, leading to two unearned runs when Gabe Camacho and Martinez were both hit by pitches with the bases loaded. Despite these runs, Cincinnati maintained a 9-5 advantage after answering with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning.
 
The Tritons advanced a runner to third with two outs in the top of the ninth, but were unable to plate a run. Cincinnati secured the win with a final score of 9-5.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Nick Costello and Alex Leopard both knocked home runs in the contest. It was the first of the season for Leopard and second for Costello.
• UC San Diego stranded six runners on base, compared to seven for UC.
• The Tritons used five pitchers, including Nathan Ries, Jake Villar, Connor Etnire, Nathan Huy and Ethan Russell.
• The game was originally scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. PT start but was delayed to 4:00 p.m. PT due to rain.
• UC San Diego is now 3-2 in the all-time series with Cincinnati. 

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will remain in Cincinnati for game two of the four-game series with the Bearcats on Friday at 1 p.m. PT. 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.