LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego baseball earned its second shutout of the season, defeating BYU 3-0 on Tuesday evening in Triton Ballpark. The Tritons (26-16) combined for 14 strikeouts and limited the Cougars (18-24) to just three hits in the first-ever meeting between the programs.
 
Matt Halbach finished 2-for-2 with two walks and a run scored, while Michael Fuhrman went 1-for-1 with an RBI and two runs scored including a solo home run. Fuhrman drew a walk and was hit by a pitch twice and both Fuhrman and Halbach reached base in all four at-bats.
 
Ethan Holt (4-1) earned the victory in a controlled start where he went 2.0 innings, retiring all six batters faced including four strikeouts. The Tritons used seven pitchers in the contest and Ryan Rissas earned his fifth save of the season, closing out the ninth with a 1-2-3 inning and two strikeouts.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Starter Ethan Holt was dominant in his two innings of work, retiring all six Cougars he faced including four swinging strikeouts. The Tritons loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the first, but UC San Diego was unable to put a run on the board.
 
The Tritons broke through to score two runs an inning later with an infield RBI single by Kane and a ground-out by Brandon Larson to make it 2-0. The Tritons added another run in the bottom of the fifth with a first-pitch leadoff home run by Fuhrman. 
 
UC San Diego threatened again in the seventh with two runners on and one out, but the Tritons were unable to add to their lead.
 
After stranding two BYU runners in the top of the fifth, UC San Diego relievers Spencer Seid, Nolan McCracken, Sam Hasegawa and Ryan Rissas retired 12 of the next 13 batters in order. The Tritons gave up just one single and struck out six to close out the contest in the final four innings.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Ethan Holt (4-1) earned the victory in his first career start—including high school, junior college and at UC San Diego.
• Ryan Rissas was credited with his fifth save of the season and now leads the team and is tied for fifth in the Big West.
• UC San Diego pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts—two shy of the program's Division I record and most since Mar. 13 against Northern Colorado (15).
  • Six of the seven Triton pitchers recorded at least one strikeout.
• Fuhrman and Kane were credited with RBI, while Halbach turned in the only multi-hit performance of the night.
• This was the first-ever meeting between the program and the Tritons now lead the all-time series 1-0.
• It was the second shutout of the season for UC San Diego after blanking Northern Colorado earlier this year (Mar. 12, 8-0).

UP NEXT
The Tritons will continue their final homestand of the season in Triton Ballpark, hosting CSUN in the weekend series to close out the home schedule beginning Friday at 6 p.m. The games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live statistics will be available via UCSDTritons.com.
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
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 Conference in NCAA Division I. 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. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. 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.