LA JOLLA, Calif. — UC San Diego baseball took the series opener over UC Irvine, 11-10, on Friday night in Triton Ballpark. The Tritons (17-20, 13-6 Big West) rallied from a seven-run deficit to top the Anteaters (17-22, 8-11 Big West) in the first game of the weekend series.
 
Delshaun Lanier led the Tritons, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, two runs and four RBI. Michael Crossland went 4-for-6 with a double, two RBI and a run scored, while J.C. Allen finished 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk and two RBI. 
 
Jake Villar pitched a solid 3.0 innings in relief, allowing one run on two hits with no walks and one strikeout. Julian Cazares (2-1) earned the win, pitching 1.0 inning and allowing one run on two hits with no walks and one strikeout. Nathan Huy recorded his first save of the season, recording the final two outs in the ninth.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC Irvine scored early and often, taking the lead in the first inning with a three-run home run. The Anteaters added to their lead in the second with a bases-loaded walk and an RBI groundout to make it 5-0.
 
The Tritons got on the board in the bottom of the second when Lanier knocked an infield single to score Leopard from third base. 
 
UC Irvine threatened again in the top of the third, loading the bases after Murdock recorded back-to-back strikeouts to begin the inning. A groundout to Potestio at shortstop ended the inning without a run. UC San Diego countered in the bottom of the inning with back-to-back singles to lead off, but the Tritons were unable to bring in a run as well.
 
The Anteaters added three more runs on three hits in the top of the fourth to lead 8-1. UC San Diego plated one run in the bottom of the inning when Lanier doubled off the wall in left center to score Nick Costello from first base and make it 8-2 through four innings.
 
The Tritons' offense exploded for seven runs on six hits, sending 13 batters to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning. Allen got the scoring started with a solo home run to left field, before UC San Diego loaded the bases with one out. Lanier doubled to left field, bringing in two runs and Addison Klepsch followed with a pinch-hit single to make it 8-6. Potestio hit a sacrifice fly that scored Lanier and Crossland doubled to deep left field to score Klepsch and tie the game at 8-8. Allen capped the inning with a single to bring in Crossland and give the Tritons their first lead, 9-8.
 
UC San Diego added a run in the sixth on an RBI single from Thomas Maher to make it 10-8. UCI responded with a leadoff home run in the seventh and tied the game in the eighth with an RBI sac bunt to make it 10-all.
 
The Tritons rallied in the bottom of the eighth, scoring on an RBI single to left field by Crossland to retake the lead 11-10.
 
Irvine had one final chance in the top of the ninth, getting runners on the corners with one out. The Tritons got two impressive defensive efforts on a popup to shallow left field that was caught by Potestio and a flyout to Crossland on the run in deep center field to end the contest. 
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• J.C. Allen hit his fifth home run (407 ft) of the season in the contest.
• The Tritons recorded 13 hits and left 13 runners on base, while UC Irvine recorded 14 hits and left nine runners on base.
• The Tritons used five pitchers in the contest, including Steele Murdock, Jake Villar, Julian Cazares, Devon King and Nathan Huy.
• UC San Diego is now 8-11 in the all-time series (8-9 in D-I) with UC Irvine and 1-0 this season.

 
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will continue the weekend series with UC Irvine on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats will be available via UCSDTritons.com.
 
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 24-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 39 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 90 percent, the highest rate among institutions in NCAA Division I or II.