LONG BEACH, Calif. — UC San Diego baseball fell to Long Beach State, 11-1, on Saturday evening at Blair Field. The Tritons (19-23, 14-9 Big West) managed eight hits but left 14 runners on base to drop the second game of the weekend series with Dirtbags (16-29, 10-16 Big West).
Nick Costello registered two hits, including a double, and scored one run, while
Alex Leopard also added two hits in the game.
Nathaniel Widelski knocked two hits off the bench, including a double, and
Ryson Ujimori also hit a double and was responsible for the only run batted in.
The Tritons used seven pitchers in the contest, highlighted by
Quincey Brown who pitched a flawless inning, allowing no hits and recording one strikeout with only seven pitches.
Julian Cazares effectively closed out an inning by striking out one batter and allowing no hits in his relief appearance.
Ethan Russell closed with a scoreless inning, allowing two hits but keeping the runners from scoring.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons fell behind early as the Dirtbags scored four runs in the first inning, including a three-run double to build a 4-0 lead.
In the second inning, Costello scored the Tritons' only run, reaching home on a double by Ujimori. The score was 4-1 in favor of LBSU after two innings. The third inning saw the Dirtbags extending their lead with a sacrifice fly, bringing the score to 5-1.
LBSU added three runs in the fourth inning, driven in by three RBI singles, making it 8-1. In the fifth inning, another RBI single pushed the LBSU lead to 9-1.
UC San Diego got its best opportunities in the late innings, loading the bases in the sixth and seventh but the Tritons were unable to score both times. UC San Diego threatened with back-to-back walks with two outs in the eighth inning but came up empty once again.
A Long Beach two-run homer in the sixth inning extended the lead to 11-1, which remained unchanged through the final innings.
TRITON TIDBITS
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will wrap up the weekend series at Long Beach State on Sunday at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live statistics 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.
