UC San Diego’s baseball team lost to Cincinnati 9-5 on Thursday evening at UC Baseball Stadium. The game began after a three-hour rain delay, with the Tritons recording two home runs but unable to match the Bearcats’ offensive output.
Alex Leopard hit his first home run of the season and drove in two runs during his four plate appearances. Nick Costello also contributed with a solo home run, his second of the year. Starting pitcher Nathan Ries, making his first start of the season, pitched four innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs while striking out five.
Jake Villar came in as relief, giving up four runs on four hits over just more than an inning and striking out one. Connor Etnire also pitched for over an inning, surrendering two runs on five hits with one strikeout. Nathan Huy faced one batter and retired him on two pitches. Ethan Russell closed the game for UC San Diego with a perfect inning that included a strikeout.
The scoring started in the third inning when Costello homered to right field for UC San Diego. Cincinnati responded in their half of the inning by scoring three runs on an RBI triple and a two-run homer.
In the fourth, Trevian Martinez singled before Leopard hit a two-run homer to center field, tying the score at 3-3. Cincinnati took back control in the fifth after Jackson Smith was hit by a pitch and Derrick Pitts bunted for a single; Quinton Coats then hit his second home run of the game—a three-run shot—giving Cincinnati a 6-3 lead.
Cincinnati added another run in the sixth with an RBI single. In the seventh, UC San Diego scored twice due to pitching errors; both Gabe Camacho and Martinez were hit by pitches with bases loaded. However, Cincinnati answered with two more runs in their half of the seventh.
The Tritons managed to get a runner to third base in the ninth but did not score again. The final score was 9-5 in favor of Cincinnati.
Nick Costello and Alex Leopard each hit home runs for UC San Diego—Leopard’s first this season and Costello’s second. The Tritons left six runners stranded compared to seven by Cincinnati. Five pitchers appeared for UC San Diego: Ries, Villar, Etnire, Huy, and Russell.
The game was delayed from its original 1:00 p.m. PT start time to 4:00 p.m. PT because of rain. With this result, UC San Diego now holds a 3-2 record against Cincinnati all-time.
The teams will meet again Friday at 1 p.m. PT for game two of their four-game series in Cincinnati. The matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+, with live statistics available at UCSDTritons.com.
“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,” according to information from UC San Diego Athletics. “The 23-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.” The university reports that “a total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships.” They add that “UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world’s preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.”
