AZUSA, Calif. -- The 2019 season came to a close for Azusa Pacific after UC San Diego won the second and third games of the NCAA West Regional Championship series on Saturday at the Cougar Baseball Field to return to Cary, N.C., for the national tournament.

UC San Diego overcame deficits with home runs twice in the second game of the series for a back-and-forth 6-5 win over the Cougars. Then in the series finale, the Tritons offense dominated with 16 runs for a 16-5 victory that clinched the regional title. Azusa Pacific finished the season with a 40-15 record this season and a third runner-up finish in the West Region.

Cole Kleszcz hit his 27th home run of the season on the second pitch of the day as the Cougars looked to build on their 13-2 win from the day before. However, UC San Diego got a solo home run of its own in the next half inning to tie the game at 1-1. The Tritons extended the lead to 4-1 before Azusa Pacific answered with a four-run seventh inning on home runs by Joe Quire, Jr. and Osvaldo Tovalin to take a 5-4 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, R.J. Prince homered to left-center field and the Tritons' bullpen put a pair of zeroes on the board for the 6-5 win.

In the third game, UC San Diego got more of the offensive production that it was hoping for in the opening game scoring runs in four-consecutive innings to build an 11-4 lead after five long innings. Azusa Pacific left 11 runners on base, while the Tritons hit four home runs to continuously build the lead and secure the regional title.