UC San Diego baseball (9-7, 1-2 Big West) opened up a three-game series against Cal State Bakersfield (6-10, 2-1 Big West) and Big West conference play with a 9-1 victory. Redshirt sophomore pitcher Matthew Dalquist led the way for the Tritons, throwing eight strikeouts in 7.2 innings of shutout ball.
In a postgame interview with The UCSD Guardian, Dalquist credited his fastball for his stellar outing: “I was throwing my fastball really, really well — throwing it to good locations, getting it by them a lot, and even inducing some soft contact.”
The Big West opener started inconspicuously for Dalquist and the Tritons when the CSUB leadoff man ripped a sharp ground ball through the left side of the infield for a base hit. It looked like Dalquist had erased that less-than-ideal result when he coaxed a tailor-made double-play ball to first base. However, sophomore first baseman Gabe Camacho threw the ball into the outfield and both runners reached safely. Suddenly, Dalquist found himself in a two-on, nobody-out jam. The Triton ace retired his first batter of the evening on a flyout to left field, but both runners advanced, setting up a strikeout situation with runners on the corners and one out. Dalquist needed a strikeout and he got one, blowing a high heater past a Roadrunner for a swinging strike three. After the next CSUB batter feebly grounded out to second base on the first pitch of the at-bat, Dalquist was out of the woods.
However, he found himself right back in action after the Tritons went down in order in the bottom of the first. This time, it was much smoother sailing for the right-handed hurler. The first CSUB hitter hit a weak grounder right back to Dalquist, who calmly flipped it to first for the first out. Junior second baseman Patrick Hackworth helped his pitcher out with a nice catch over the fence in foul territory to retire the second batter. Dalquist sent the final batter back to the dugout with another swinging strike three on a fastball.
The Tritons reached base for the first time in the bottom of the second when the Roadrunners’ second baseman booted a Camacho ground ball. Junior third baseman J.C. Allen followed up Camacho’s at-bat by smoking the ball to center field; unfortunately, it was caught by the CSUB centerfielder for the first out. The next two UCSD batters were retired, and the Tritons failed to advance their leadoff baserunner.
In the top of the third, Dalquist needed just seven pitches to get back to the dugout. He rung up the first batter on a swinging strike three after a five-pitch battle, and got the next two hitters to pop out and ground out respectively, both on the first offering of the at bat. The pitchers’ duel continued into the bottom half of the frame, as the Tritons went down in order.
The Roadrunners put up a bit more of a fight in the top of the fourth, when their leadoff man reached on a base hit through the right side of the infield. However, the CSUB threat ended there after Dalquist struck out the next three hitters. UCSD’s struggles at the plate continued in its half of the inning, as it went down in order yet again with two strikeouts. Through four innings, the Tritons had failed to record a hit. They were yet to touch second base or get into a three ball count.
After another one-two-three inning from Dalquist in the top of the fifth, it was time for the Tritons to take some hacks at the so-far untouchable CSUB pitching. The inning started off as usual — with two quick outs. But graduate student catcher Emiliano Gonzalez erased the CSUB no-hitter, shutout, and a bit of paint from the top of the scoreboard in right field with a one-run blast. Hackworth recorded the Tritons’ second hit of the game in the next at bat, but freshman designated hitter Trevian Martinez failed to keep the rally going, and the inning ended 1-0, UCSD.
The suddenly confident Tritons found themselves picking up the bats right back up following yet another shutdown inning from Dalquist. As UCSD hitters got their third look at the CSUB starter in this inning, they finally found some solutions. The Tritons loaded the bases with three straight base hits to start the stanza. Camacho brought home the second UCSD run after getting hit with a soft breaking ball.
Allen then fouled out to first base, but junior shortstop Noah Lazuka tagged up from third and scored. Junior outfielder Alex Leopard also tagged up from second base, and smartly came home after the CSUB catcher failed to keep the short hop throw in front of him. Sophomore outfielder Michael Crossland kept the party going with a double into left field that scored Camacho from second base. The CSUB starter was able to retire the Tritons without another run crossing the plate, but the damage had been done; UCSD led 5-0.
Even after a lengthy spell in the dugout during the Tritons’ sixth-inning barrage, it was business as usual for Dalquist in the seventh inning. His longest start of the season before Friday night was a six-inning performance on Feb. 21 against Pepperdine. He surpassed this mark against the Roadrunners in 81 pitches.
After the game, Dalquist acknowledged that he felt some fatigue in the later innings, but he trusted his preseason preparation to keep him going. “I was a little bit fatigued at the end, but just trusting my work building up throughout the preseason and throughout this season — it’s been a little bit of a steady increase in my pitch count,” he said.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Tritons added four more runs after CSUB pulled its starter. The Roadrunner reliever struggled to find the zone, and the Tritons took advantage in the form of RBI hits authored by Lazuka and Crossland.
Dalquist’s complete game shutout bid ended in the next inning when head coach Eric Newman pulled the ace after he put away the first two batters. He was replaced by freshman left-handed pitcher Harry Pelzman, who only surrendered one run and closed the game.
Dalquist said he wasn’t thrilled to leave the game but understood why Newman decided to give him the hook: “I knew that was the longest I’d gone into a game before. Obviously, I want to get that complete game shutout; that’s a really cool thing to have. But yeah, pitch count was definitely getting up.”
The Tritons fell 10-3 in game two of the series on Saturday. Game three on Sunday, March 9, was similarly disappointing for UCSD, who lost 11-7. They will be back in action next week at Cal State Fullerton on Friday, March 14.
