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In a parting shot, the UC San Diego baseball team delivered three departing shots in an 8-0 victory over Hawaii at Triton Ballpark in La Jolla, Calif.
Michael Crossland, Alex Leopard and Gabe Camacho belted home runs to fuel the Tritons in the final scheduled meeting between the Big West teams for the foreseeable future.
The Rainbow Warriors, who fell to 16-13 and 6-9 in the Big West, join the Mountain West on July 1. UCSD is set to depart the Big West for the West Coast Conference in the summer of 2027. The Tritons are atop the Big West at 10-2.
A crowd of 542 saw the Tritons win their fourth consecutive series — this time two games to one.
“Things didn’t definitely go our way,” said UH coach Rich Hill, whose ’Bows absorbed their fourth shutout of the season. “The team that won the game deserved to win the game.”
For the second consecutive game, the ’Bows were without shortstop Elijah Ickes, who was struck on the left wrist by a pitch in Thursday’s opener. X-rays were negative, but Ickes was fitted for a light cast. His availability remains day-to-day. After hitting .320 in the first two games, the ’Bows’ offense also was absent on Saturday. The ’Bows were 4-for-29, including 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
“There were some bright spots,” Hill said. “Another great day of defense. But the other team played great. They hit great, they had clutch hitting, very good pitching, excellent defense, and that was the story. Sometimes you’ve got to tip your cap to teams for it.”
The Tritons scored four runs with two outs in the third inning. Crossland hit a shot over the fence in left field for a 1-0 lead.
Camacho then hit a drive that right fielder Ben Zeigler-Namoa appeared to lose against the afternoon sun. The ball fell 5 feet to Zeigler-Namoa’s right as Camacho sprinted to third with a triple. JC Allen followed with an RBI double. Then Leopard crushed a two-run homer.
Of the two-out triple, Hill said, “that play and the ensuing two-out hits were definitely a factor. But they weren’t a factor in the outcome of the game. We got shut out, and only had four hits.”
Camacho’s two-run, 397-foot homer to right extended the Tritons’ lead to 6-0 in the fifth inning.
UCSD coach Eric Newman decided to alter the starting pitching. In the Tritons’ first four Big West series, Austin Bowker was the third-game starter. But Bowker had a 9.00 ERA in those starts, prompting Newman to use Trevor Rector as the “opener” as part of an ensemble script.
Rector pitched a 1-2-3 first inning. Bowker then was summoned.
“Once we saw Bowker warming up like a starter in the outfield and then go straight to the ’pen, we knew that’s what they were going to do,” Hill said. “It was a mild surprise. We planned for it in our scouting meetings. We said, ‘This is what’s going to happen. (Rector) is an opener and they’re going to go straight to Bowker and (Nathan) Huy. That’s exactly the script they followed. Bowker was just much better than he’s been. And the same with Rector. Those guys were throwing strikes.”
Bowker pitched a three-hitter over 5 2/3 innings, his longest outing of the season.
Huy and Quincey Brown combined to get the final seven outs.
The ’Bows are in eighth place at the halfway point of their 30-game Big West schedule. This year, the ’Bows are a combined 5-7 against the league’s top four teams — UC San Diego, Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Fullerton.
“We’ve had a pretty brutal schedule in the first half,” Hill said. “The record isn’t great. But at the same time, to be where we’re at, with the No. 11 (out of 11) offense (in the Big West) and the injuries we’ve had, we’re in striking distance of everything we set out to do this year.”
The ’Bows are two games behind Cal State Northridge for the fifth — and final — spot in next month’s Big West Tournament in Irvine, Calif.
Of the ’Bows’ five remaining Big West series, three will be at Les Murakami Stadium, beginning with this coming weekend’s three-game set against UC Irvine.
“You knew Irvine was going to be there,” Hill said of the 6-6 Anteaters, who have won three in a row. “It was a matter of time before they got things going. It’ll be a great weekend series. Hopefully we’ll pack the Les.”
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Michael Crossland, Alex Leopard and Gabe Camacho belted home runs to fuel the Tritons in the final scheduled meeting between the Big West teams for the foreseeable future.
The Rainbow Warriors, who fell to 16-13 and 6-9 in the Big West, join the Mountain West on July 1. UCSD is set to depart the Big West for the West Coast Conference in the summer of 2027. The Tritons are atop the Big West at 10-2.
A crowd of 542 saw the Tritons win their fourth consecutive series — this time two games to one.
“Things didn’t definitely go our way,” said UH coach Rich Hill, whose ’Bows absorbed their fourth shutout of the season. “The team that won the game deserved to win the game.”
For the second consecutive game, the ’Bows were without shortstop Elijah Ickes, who was struck on the left wrist by a pitch in Thursday’s opener. X-rays were negative, but Ickes was fitted for a light cast. His availability remains day-to-day. After hitting .320 in the first two games, the ’Bows’ offense also was absent on Saturday. The ’Bows were 4-for-29, including 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
“There were some bright spots,” Hill said. “Another great day of defense. But the other team played great. They hit great, they had clutch hitting, very good pitching, excellent defense, and that was the story. Sometimes you’ve got to tip your cap to teams for it.”
The Tritons scored four runs with two outs in the third inning. Crossland hit a shot over the fence in left field for a 1-0 lead.
Camacho then hit a drive that right fielder Ben Zeigler-Namoa appeared to lose against the afternoon sun. The ball fell 5 feet to Zeigler-Namoa’s right as Camacho sprinted to third with a triple. JC Allen followed with an RBI double. Then Leopard crushed a two-run homer.
Of the two-out triple, Hill said, “that play and the ensuing two-out hits were definitely a factor. But they weren’t a factor in the outcome of the game. We got shut out, and only had four hits.”
Camacho’s two-run, 397-foot homer to right extended the Tritons’ lead to 6-0 in the fifth inning.
UCSD coach Eric Newman decided to alter the starting pitching. In the Tritons’ first four Big West series, Austin Bowker was the third-game starter. But Bowker had a 9.00 ERA in those starts, prompting Newman to use Trevor Rector as the “opener” as part of an ensemble script.
Rector pitched a 1-2-3 first inning. Bowker then was summoned.
“Once we saw Bowker warming up like a starter in the outfield and then go straight to the ’pen, we knew that’s what they were going to do,” Hill said. “It was a mild surprise. We planned for it in our scouting meetings. We said, ‘This is what’s going to happen. (Rector) is an opener and they’re going to go straight to Bowker and (Nathan) Huy. That’s exactly the script they followed. Bowker was just much better than he’s been. And the same with Rector. Those guys were throwing strikes.”
Bowker pitched a three-hitter over 5 2/3 innings, his longest outing of the season.
Huy and Quincey Brown combined to get the final seven outs.
The ’Bows are in eighth place at the halfway point of their 30-game Big West schedule. This year, the ’Bows are a combined 5-7 against the league’s top four teams — UC San Diego, Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Fullerton.
“We’ve had a pretty brutal schedule in the first half,” Hill said. “The record isn’t great. But at the same time, to be where we’re at, with the No. 11 (out of 11) offense (in the Big West) and the injuries we’ve had, we’re in striking distance of everything we set out to do this year.”
The ’Bows are two games behind Cal State Northridge for the fifth — and final — spot in next month’s Big West Tournament in Irvine, Calif.
Of the ’Bows’ five remaining Big West series, three will be at Les Murakami Stadium, beginning with this coming weekend’s three-game set against UC Irvine.
“You knew Irvine was going to be there,” Hill said of the 6-6 Anteaters, who have won three in a row. “It was a matter of time before they got things going. It’ll be a great weekend series. Hopefully we’ll pack the Les.”
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