CINCINNATI — UC San Diego baseball fell to Cincinnati in a narrow 9-8 extra innings contest on Sunday at UC Baseball Stadium. The Tritons (4-10) knocked three home runs in the contest, but the Bearcats (13-4) secured the victory with a solo home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to take the series finale.
 
Gabe Camacho also added power at the plate with a grand slam, finishing the day 2-for-5 with four RBI. Michael Crossland scored twice and accounted for two RBIs, including a home run, while Anthony Potestio recorded three hits, including a double, while crossing the plate three times and finishing 3-for-5. J.C. Allen also hit a home run in the contest, going 2-for-5.
 
UC San Diego's pitchers combined for 18 strikeouts in the contest—finishing just one shy of the program's Division I single game record. Austin Bowker started the game for the Tritons, pitching 3 2/3 innings with a total of 75 pitches. He recorded a career-high nine strikeouts but allowed four earned runs on three hits. Devon King took over in relief, throwing 2 1/3 innings, striking out two while giving up two earned runs. Julian Cazares was effective in his 1 2/3 innings, not allowing any runs and striking out two batters. Nathan Huy (0-1) pitched in the extra innings, collecting one strikeout before allowing the game-winning home run in 2/3 of an inning.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons took an early lead in the first inning when Potestio doubled and later scored on a wild pitch. Allen followed with a solo home run to put UC San Diego ahead 2-0. However, the Bearcats responded with a three-run homer, giving them a 3-2 lead at the end of the first inning.
 
Cincinnati added a run in the third and two more in the fourth to extend the lead, 6-2.

In the sixth inning, the Tritons narrowed the deficit when Potestio reached on an error and scored on Crossland's two-run homer, reducing the margin to 6-4. Cincinnati got a run back in the bottom of the inning on a sacrifice fly, maintaining the lead at 7-4 through six innings.
 
The Tritons surged in the seventh inning after loading the bases with two outs. Nick Costello and Potestio singled, and Crossland reached on a fielding error to bring Camacho to the plate. The Tritons' first baseman sent one 394 feet over the wall in right field to put UC San Diego back on top, 8-7. UC tied the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, making it 8-all.
 
The game remained tied through the ninth and tenth innings, with both teams unable to break the deadlock. In the eleventh inning, Cincinnati hit a walk-off home run, sealing a 9-8 victory for the Bearcats.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Gabe Camacho brought his RBI tally to nine for the weekend with his sixth home run of the season.
  • Camacho now has 19 RBI for the season to rank second in the Big West and ranks second in slugging percentage as well (.729).
• Michael Crossland recorded his third homer of the season and Allen tallied his second.
• Austin Bowker tallied a career-best nine strikeouts.
• UC San Diego left four runners on base, compared to 13 for Cincinnati.
• The Tritons used six pitchers in the contest, including Austin Bowker, Kayden Henson, Devon King, Julian Cazares, Connor Etnire and Nathan Huy.
  • All six recorded at least one strikeout, finishing one shy of the program's Division I record with 18 in the contest.
• UC San Diego is now 3-5 in the all-time series with Cincinnati. 

 
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will begin Big West play on the road next week with a three-game series at CSUN beginning, Friday at 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live statistics will be available via UCSDTritons.com.
 
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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.