On Monday, April 21, at Triton Ballpark, UC San Diego baseball (20-19, 9-9 Big West) defeated Loyola Marymount University (22-19, 9-6 WCC) 6-5 in walk-off fashion. Freshman right-handed pitcher Nathan Ries gave the Tritons a solid five innings, fanning eight LMU hitters and allowing just one earned run. UCSD led 2-1 when Ries exited, but poor command from the Triton bullpen and shaky fielding from their defense resulted in a 5-4 Lion lead as the Tritons picked up their bats in the bottom of the ninth. With its back against the wall, UCSD rallied to load the bases, and junior right fielder Alex Leopard sent everyone home happy with a walk-off double.
Ries’ eight strikeouts were a career high and coincided with an equally impressive zero walks. The freshman discussed his strikeout-inducing slider in a postgame interview with The UCSD Guardian.
“At the start of the season, it wasn’t that great, so just continuing to throw it and continuing to just master it — eventually you’ll get it to what you wanted to do, and that’s what I felt out there,” he said.
Ries improved the pitch by cranking up its velocity; he explained: “Before, I was just trying to get it there. I feel like out there I was really just trying to throw it as hard as I could.”
Following two scoreless innings from Ries, the Triton offense came alive to draw first blood in the bottom of the second. After two quick outs, redshirt senior outfielder Cooper Thacker reached base with a walk. He then advanced to second base on a balk and to third on a base hit by redshirt junior second baseman Patrick Hackworth. The Tritons were in business. Freshman third baseman Thomas Maher then kept the rally going with a walk to load the bases, and sophomore shortstop Anthony Potestio walked to plate a run.
The Lions threatened to tie the game in the top of the third when a sharply hit ground ball escaped the left side of the infield with a runner on second. Thacker erased the run with a frozen rope from left field that cut down LMU’s runner at the plate for the second out of the inning. The next batter continued the threat with a base hit to right field to put runners on the corners with two outs, but Reis escaped the inning with his third backward K of the evening.
After a scoreless bottom of the third and top of the fourth, the Lions pulled their starter in the bottom of the fourth. However, their new pitcher failed to find the strike zone — and paid the price. He walked Thacker, who swiped second and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. A few pitches later, the LMU pitcher’s offering skipped through the dirt and into the backstop, bringing Thacker home and doubling the Tritons’ advantage. The Lions’ pitcher soon settled in, coaxing a grounder out of Potestio and striking out Crossland to end the inning.
The Lions’ ninth hitter started the top of the fifth with a loud double that one-hopped off the center field wall, bringing up the top of LMU’s order with a runner in scoring position and just one out. LMU cashed in immediately with a seeing-eye ground ball that narrowly escaped Potestio and Hackworth’s dives for an RBI base hit, cutting UCSD’s lead in half. Reis did well to retire the next two batters and limit the damage. The freshman right-hander — a spot starter who has not pitched over five innings all season — was pulled after the fifth, giving up only one earned run in a stellar outing.
The UCSD bullpen got off to a poor start in the sixth inning, as the Lions’ leadoff hitter reached base on a ground ball to shortstop. After two wild pitches from senior left-handed pitcher Ethan Remmers, a walk, and an error, that runner came around to score. With the next batter at the plate and sophomore right-handed pitcher Devon King on the mound, LMU successfully executed a double steal to plate another run and take a 3-2 lead. King struck out the next hitter to mercifully end the inning, but the damage had already been done.
However, momentum swung back in UCSD’s favor in the bottom of the sixth when Hackworth led off with a looping line drive into left field. It bounced past the Lions’ outfielders, all the way to the wall, as Hackworth hustled around the bases and received a “go” sign at third. With no play at the plate, the throw from the outfield went up the third base path, and he tied the game with an inside-the-park home run.
The game was not even for long, as the Triton bullpen’s struggles continued in the top of the seventh. After King quickly retired the first two hitters, he allowed a hit, threw two wild pitches, then walked a hitter to put runners on the corners. He was replaced by sophomore left-handed pitcher Landon Marchetti, who issued back-to-back walks, walking in a run to give LMU the lead.
The bleeding continued in the top of the eighth when LMU extended its lead to 5-3 with an RBI double. UCSD managed to cut that deficit in half in the bottom of the inning when freshman outfielder Garrett Davidson came through with a two-out pinch-hit base hit up the middle. Davidson gave the Tritons a fighting chance, but they still found themselves in need of a run in the ninth inning.
LMU’s relief pitcher started the inning by walking the bases loaded, giving UCSD a golden opportunity. Leopard stepped up to the plate and laced a double off the left field wall. Freshman outfielder Jayden Lee and Crossland came around to score, and the rest of the Tritons poured out of the dugout. They crowded around Leopard and doused him with water in celebration. The Tritons’ dramatic 6-5 victory was their second walk-off win of the season.
UCSD has won six of its last seven games and currently has a 1.5-game lead over Hawai’i for the fifth and final Big West playoff spot. Monday was just a single-game series against the out-of-conference Lions, but the Tritons’ Big West campaign will resume on Friday, April 25, which will be the first of three games in a weekend series at home against UC Santa Barbara.
