Late Rally Falls Short as Baseball Falls to UC San Diego, 8-7

San Diego, Calif. -- Down 8-6 entering the ninth, Creighton Baseball opened the final frame with three singles, but fell 8-7 in the opening game of the Tony Gwynn Tournament on Friday, February 20. The loss evened Creighton's record at 2-2, while UC San Diego climbed to 2-2.

The Bluejays offense was consistent, pushing across one run in seven innings. The Tritons, meanwhile, plated two runs in the second, one in the fifth and five in the seventh.

Creighton took the lead in the second as Isaac Wachsman lifted a sacrifice fly. UC San Diego responded with a pair of runs on an RBI double from Nick Costello and a sac fly by Anthony Potestio.

The Bluejays responded with an RBI single by Nate McHugh in the third, a solo home run from Chris Baillargeon in the fourth and an RBI single from Connor Capece in the fifth to take a 5-2 edge.

The Tritons pushed across an unearned run via a sac fly by Michael Crossland in the fifth, but Creighton answered with an RBI single from Rocco Gump in the sixth and a sac fly by Isaac Wachsmann to give the Jays a 6-3 edge.

UC San Diego took advantage of a hit batter, two single and a walk to draw within 6-4, but the big blow in the seventh was a grand slam by JC Allen to give the Tritons an 8-6 lead.

In the final frame the Bluejays opened the inning with three straight singles from McHugh, Teddy Deters and Connor Capece to close within a run, but a double play and a line out ended the game with Deters on third.

Bluejay reliever Ian Koosman took the loss (0-1), allowing two runs on one hit and one walk in one inning, while UC San Diego reliever Connor Etnire earned the win (2-0). He allowed one run on two hits in one inning of work. Kayden Hudson collected his second save of the season, allowing one run on three hits.

The Bluejays continue play in the Tony Gwynn Tournament on Saturday, February 21 as Creighton plays at San Diego at 7:00 pm.