UC San Diego beats Cal State Fullerton to stay alive in Big West Championship

UC San Diego stayed alive Friday night in the Big West Championship, beating Cal State Fullerton 5-1 in an elimination game at UC Irvine's Anteater Ballpark.

UCSD (25-27) plays top-seeded UC Santa Barbara (37-17) Saturday at 1 p.m. (ESPN+) in another elimination game. UCSB was upset 4-2 by Cal Poly (35-21) earlier on Friday.

The Tritons were tied 1-1 through seven innings against Fullerton (24-32) before breaking the game open with three runs in the eighth. UCSD center fielder Nathaniel Widelski capped the rally with a two-run double. The Tritons added an insurance run in the ninth on third baseman J.C. Allen’s single.

UCSD first baseman Gabe Camacho led the Tritons with three of the team’s eight hits.

UCSD starting pitcher Nic Gregson matched his longest outing of the season, checking the Titans on six hits and one run over seven innings. Gregson allowed a run in the fifth inning, but stranded two runners in both the second and fourth.

Reliever Devon King (4-0) retired the side in order against Fullerton in both the eighth and ninth innings - striking out the Titans’ Logan Hart looking to end the game - for the win.

UCSD and UCSB played three close games when the teams met last month in Santa Barbara. The Tritons won the first game of the series 4-3, then lost the following two games by 11-10 (11 innings) and 3-1 scores.

The winner of the UCSD-UCSB game advances to play Cal Poly for the Big West championship, needing two victories over the Mustangs to secure the title and the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Regionals.

Cal Poly edged the Tritons 1-0 in Thursday’s tournament opener.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.