UC Santa Barbara Baseball Completes Sweep of UConn With 12-1 Victory

A three-game sweep over a quality UConn program was the perfect start to the home schedule for the UC Santa Barbara baseball team.

The Gauchos used four home runs and a lights out performance on the mound from Ryan Gallagher to defeat the visiting Huskies 12-1 on Sunday afternoon at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. 

“They’re a good team and we did a nice job of playing well against a good team,” said UCSB head coach Andrew Checketts. “We had some ups and downs early, not surprising based on our facility situation and our eleven straight road games.”

UConn won 45 games last year and reached NCAA Regionals for the sixth time in the last eight years, but the Huskies came into the series with UC Santa Barbara with a 3-5 record and the Gauchos added to their woes with three consecutive victories. 

Second baseman Nick Oakley, a Santa Barbara High alum, jump started the UC Santa Barbara offense Sunday afternoon with a three-run homer that easily cleared the right-field fence giving the Gauchos a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Oakley finished the game with five runs batted in.

Gallagher continued his strong start to the season by holding the Huskies to one run in seven innings on the mound He struck out seven while scattering three hits. 

“It’s nice to see him have a bounce back that’s more of what we expect out of him and what we’ve seen out of him over the years,” Checketts said. “It feels like a luxury to have someone of that quality throw for you on a Sunday.”

The Gauchos added two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning as Justin Trimble was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score Reiss Calvin and Oakley followed with a sac fly that scored catcher Brendan Durfee. 

In the bottom of the fifth, UC Santa Barbara added two more runs on solo homers by Jonah Sebring and Durfee. Sebring hit a lined shot to center field and Durfee followed with a blast to right field that narrowly cleared the fence. 

“I got to a count where I was kind of looking for a fastball and he tended to miss inside,” Durfee said “I got the {pitch} and snuck it out of here.”

Calvin closed the scoring with a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning. It was his second home run of the season.

Jackson Flora came on in relief of Gallager in the top of the eighth inning and got out of a bases-loaded jam unscathed. Calvin Proskey retired UConn in order in the top of the ninth inning to secure the victory.

UC Santa Barbara improved to 9-5 overall this season with the victory, despite beginning the season with eleven consecutive road games due to issues with the playing surface at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. 

The Gauchos will host UNLV on Tuesday in a non-conference matchup and open Big West Conference play on Friday at home against Long Beach State. Both games begin at 4:35 p.m.