UC Santa Barbara Baseball Sweeps Long Beach State to Open Big West Conference Play

Early-game deficits did not faze the UC Santa Barbara baseball team in its opening series of Big West Conference play against Long Beach State.

The visiting Dirtbags scored first in each game, but the Gauchos were able to grind out a three-game sweep after securing a 7-4 victory on Sunday afternoon at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium despite a heavy dose of adversity.

“We try to prepare these guys for these moments in the fall and early spring prior to the regular season,” said UCSB acting head coach Matt Fonteno. “It just so happens to show up on some of these challenging weekends. Today, It was a slow start. We overcame some adversity. We were able to get some key hits and a good relief appearance from {Cole} Tryba there.”

UC Santa Barbara head coach Andrew Checketts was away from the team for the series after his father, Gordon Checketts, experienced a medical emergency and passed away at Tuesday’s game against UNLV, which was subsequently canceled.

There was an announcement prior to Friday’s game that this game and the entire season is lovingly dedicated to the memory of Gordon Checketts. A moment of silence was also observed before the national anthem.

On Sunday, the Gauchos struggled to figure out Long Beach State starting pitcher C.J. Hood early in the game. The Gauchos trailed 2-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning when the offense broke through.

Reiss Calvin opened the inning with a walk and Zander Darby, who played in his first game back from injury, followed with a single through to right field and advanced to second on a fielding error.

The next batter, Brendan Durfee, grounded out to second base scoring Calvin to even the score at 2-2. Aaron Parker followed with a single that scored Darby and chased Hood from the game with the Gauchos leading 3-2.

Later in the inning, Ivan Brethowr singled to load the bases with one out. Nick Oakley followed with a bases-loaded walk that sent home Parker, increasing the Gauchos lead to 4-2. 

Freshman Jesse Mendez broke the game open with a two-out single up the middle that brought home Brethowr and Justin Trimble, increasing the UC Santa Barbara lead to 6-2. Mendez was the ninth batter in the inning.

UC Santa Barbara starting pitcher Ryan Gallagher struggled navigating the Long Beach State offense in the early innings and surrendered one run apiece in the top of the second and top of the third innings.

However, Gallagher settled in and pitched two scoreless innings before giving way to Tryba to begin the top of the sixth inning.

“I don’t think I had my best stuff today, but it was one of those days where you kind of got to compete with what you got. It helps with my defense behind me,” Gallagher said. “The bullpen this weekend was great. We only went through six pitchers this weekend so it really shows the depth of our staff. Being able to trust the guys coming in behind you really helps you relax out there.”

Each team tacked on one run in the eighth inning. Tryba surrendered a home run to Adrian Lopez, but the Gauchos got the run back on a double down the left field line by Nick Oakley that scored Jonah Sebring. 

The Dirtbags strung together three consecutive singles with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, shrinking their deficit to 7-4 and bringing the tying run to the plate but Tryba escaped the jam by inducing Connor Charpiot into a pop out

With the victory, UC Santa Barbara improved to 12-5 overall and 3-0 in Big West Conference play.