LA JOLLA – After matching his career-high in strikeouts in his last outing, junior left-hander Rigo Fernandez broke the barrier by fanning nine in the Cal State Dominguez Hills baseball team's 3-2 loss in 10 innings to No. 7 UC San Diego in the Toros' California Collegiate Athletic Association season opener on a chilly Thursday night.
 
The Tritons (7-3, 3-2 CCAA), last year's national runner-up, took full advantage of defensive mistakes by the Toros (3-4, 0-1 CCAA) in the 10^th inning. A walk and two throwing errors set up runners at the corners and a passed ball brought in the winning run.
 
Despite dealing with the chilly temperature at Triton Ballpark, it was indeed a pitching duel for the starters. Fernandez made it through five innings allowing one run on two hits and six walks. His opposite, right-hander Mitch Hickey, got through six striking out eight and allowing two runs.
 
The Toros racked up five hits on Hickey but were silenced by the Tritons bullpen. Kai Gomez had three knocks and Esteban Ortega hit a two-run jack deep into the darkness of left field that gave the Toros a 2-1 lead in the sixth.
 
San Diego got the game tied up in the seventh inning with a leadoff triple followed by an RBI single.
 
The two ballclubs will play one more in La Jolla Friday at 4 p.m. before concluding the series at Toro Field Saturday.