Vanessa Anguiano
UC San Diego baseball (22-20, 11-10 Big West) hosted the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (28-14, 13-11 Big West) on Friday, April 25, winning 6-4 to open a three-game series at Triton Ballpark. Freshman second baseman Thomas Maher notched a season-high four RBIs in the victorious effort.
Coming off of Monday’s electric walk-off against Loyola Marymount University, the Tritons hoped to end the week the same way it began: a win in front of the home crowd.
Redshirt sophomore right-hander Matthew Dalquist took the mound for the Tritons, looking to tally his fourth home win of the season. Entering Friday night, Dalquist had thrown 196 total pitches over his last two games. Nevertheless, the Tritons were prepared to ride him as long as they could against the Gauchos.
As spectators took their time entering the stadium, the Gauchos wasted no time getting to Dalquist. UCSB’s leadoff hitter smoked a single into center field, and Dalquist quickly found himself pitching from the stretch. However, as fans settled into place, the redshirt sophomore did the same. Dalquist forced the next hitter to ground out, struck out the following hitter, and popped out the cleanup hitter to end the inning.
In the bottom of the first, the Tritons profited from a Gauchos mishap. Sophomore shortstop Anthony Potestio drew a leadoff walk on a full count, then stole second base before the Gauchos could face another hitter. Sophomore center fielder Michael Crossland stepped to the plate and grounded out to third base, but Potestio advanced to third. As Potestio approached the base, the Gauchos’ first baseman made a throwing error that allowed Potestio to score, and the Tritons took an early 1-0 lead.
UCSB responded in the second. The Gauchos’ leadoff batter reached for a second straight inning — this time, by way of an infield single. The ensuing hitter walked, and a perfect bunt on the next at-bat loaded the bases. Dalquist found himself in an early hole with no outs.
The next hitter stepped into the box and laced a hard line drive headed for right field. Off the bat, Gaucho fans thought it was a base-clearing extra-base hit, but the ball was snatched out of the air by redshirt senior catcher Colton Lomanto. All runners froze and returned to their bases, resulting in the unproductive out Dalquist had hoped for.
With one out and down 2-0 in the count, Dalquist pitched into a double play. Maher converted both outs unassisted, and the Triton crowd erupted when the ball found Lomanto’s mitt at first base. In an inning when the Gauchos looked set to put up a crooked number, the Tritons went into the bottom half with all of the momentum — and they carried that momentum from the field to the batter’s box.
In the bottom of the second, graduate student catcher Emiliano Gonzalez singled to right-center field with one out. Junior third baseman J.C. Allen grounded out to the pitcher, but Gonzalez advanced to second. With two outs and Gonzalez in scoring position, redshirt senior left fielder Cooper Thacker roped an RBI double into left field, scoring Gonzalez to put the Tritons up 2-0.
In the third, Dalquist began to cruise. He retired the Gauchos 1-2-3, and the redshirt sophomore seemed poised to go deep for a third consecutive game.
In the bottom half of the third, the Tritons’ offense quieted, catching a temporary strikeout bug. Two Tritons went down swinging and another looking, all by the K.
In the fourth, Dalquist continued his dominance, retiring the Gauchos 1-2-3 again.
In the bottom half of the fourth, Gonzalez singled up the middle, but Allen struck out right after to make it a quick two outs — and five strikeouts for the last six Triton hitters. When it seemed like the inning was lost, Thacker worked a full count and drew a walk. With Gonzalez now on second and Thacker on first, Maher stepped to the plate and lined an RBI double down the right field line, scoring both Gonzalez and Thacker.
Despite UCSD’s advantage, the Gauchos turned the tide in the fifth. UCSB’s leadoff hitter walked and scored two batters later on a one-out double down the right-field line. Once again, the leadoff walk scored. Then, with two outs and one runner on base, the Gauchos launched a moonshot home run over the right-center field wall to cut the lead to 4-3.
Suddenly, we had a game.
The Gauchos entered a new pitcher in the fifth, and he retired the Tritons 1-2-3.
In the sixth, the Tritons threatened to score again with a leadoff walk by Gonzalez. Allen doubled in the ensuing at-bat to put runners on second and third with nobody out. After a popout to third base, Maher stepped to the plate and singled, scoring both Gonzalez and Allen to tally his fourth RBI.
In the seventh, junior left-hander Spencer Seid took the mound for Dalquist. Seid retired the Gauchos 1-2-3 with ease. He continued his dominance in the eighth without allowing a hit.
In the ninth, Seid made his first mistake, surrendering a leadoff home run to right field. After a one-out infield single forced a pitching change, senior left-hander Sam Hasegawa took the ball and forced two groundouts to end the game and earn his third save of the season. Despite two home runs from the visitors, the Tritons won 6-4.
On Saturday, April 26, the Tritons dropped Game 2 of the series, losing 7-6. Lomanto had two home runs — including a grand slam in the third — in the losing effort.
Looking to win the series on Sunday, April 27, UCSD came alive in a 10-8 win. The Tritons and Gauchos combined for 20 hits and 21 walks in the afternoon decider, with both offenses starting the game hot. Stellar relief pitching from Hasegawa, Seid — who earned the save — and sophomore right-hander Devon King was enough for the Tritons to end the series with a win.
The Tritons will return to Triton Ballpark on Friday, May 9, to face off against UC Davis.