UC San Diego baseball (23-25, 17-11 Big West) won a hard-fought battle 10-9 against Cal State Fullerton (22-29, 14-14 Big West) on Friday afternoon in 10 innings. The Tritons began the series with a 10-6 win against Fullerton on Thursday and dropped 10-5 on Saturday.
Freshman pitcher Connor Etnire took the mound for the Tritons to start the game. He tried to keep Fullerton at bay in the first two innings, but the Titans scored four runs across five hits. The Triton offense struggled to contend with Fullerton’s early 4-0 lead and remained hitless in the first two innings.
At the bottom of the third inning, junior catcher Cal Elvis and junior shortstop Anthony Potestio hit back-to-back home runs, narrowing the deficit to 4-2. A single from junior first baseman Gabe Camacho followed by two walks left the bases loaded.
As a result, the Titans went to their bullpen, but the next pitcher couldn’t close out the inning without damage, walking a run in and shortening the gap to 4-3. Down one run, UCSD threatened to erase the Titan lead. With the bases loaded, freshman second baseman Raphael Dunne stepped up to the plate and hit a single to bring in senior center fielder Alex Leopard. Sophomore third baseman Thomas Maher followed it up by doubling to right center field to clear the bases, giving the Tritons a 7-4 lead by the end of the explosive third inning.
The next two innings became a pitchers’ duel, and the Tritons replaced Weber with graduate student pitcher Nic Gregson. Both teams remained scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings.
Gregson remained in the game until the top of the sixth, when he was relieved after earning two outs and drawing a walk. Freshman pitcher Evan Seneres came in to finish the job and escape the inning.
After Postestio walked at the bottom of the sixth, Camacho approached the plate. Camacho, who leads the Tritons in home runs with 16 this season, drove it out of the park to set a new Division-I home run record for the program, giving UCSD a comfortable 9-4 lead by the end of the sixth.
Despite multiple runners left on base and numerous scoring opportunities, both teams were quiet during the seventh inning.
UCSD pitchers faced complications in the eighth inning, as Seneres set up two runners in scoring position with one out before being replaced by redshirt sophomore Trevor Rector. Much to Rector’s dismay, a fielder’s choice brought in the first run of the inning, followed by a walk and two long balls to tie the game up at nine apiece. The Tritons failed to respond, leaving two runners stranded. Neither team managed to score in the ninth, taking the game to extra innings.
Desperate to recreate their third-inning success, the Tritons brought in freshman pitcher Quincey Brown. He gave up three walks and loaded the bases with two outs in the inning. However, a quick force out at first base got him out of the jam unscathed.
Entering the bottom of the 10th, sophomore left fielder Addison Klepsch drew a walk, followed by an eventual single by Leopard. With two outs in a do-or-die situation, freshman center fielder Nathaniel Widelski found himself in a 2-2 count with the winning run standing on second. He drove the fifth pitch of the at-bat to deep right field, where it bounced off the wall and underneath the glove of the Fullerton right fielder. The dugouts emptied in excitement as the Tritons celebrated the 10-9 walk-off victory.
“As soon as I heard everybody screaming, I just couldn’t wait to celebrate with my team,” Widelski said in a postgame interview with The UCSD Guardian.
The Tritons wrapped up the series against CSUF with a 10-5 loss on Saturday afternoon. UCSD also celebrated its graduating athletes for Senior Day before the game. The Tritons, who capped off the season in third place in the conference, will head to the Big West Championship in Irvine to face off against No. 2 seed Cal Poly on Thursday, May 21.
“I think the momentum for the tournament is there,” head coach Eric Newman told The Guardian following the team’s Friday night win.
