UCSB Baseball Completes Sweep of Hawaii with 6-2 Victory
The UCSB Baseball Team is Undefeated at Home this Season
Last season Hawaii delivered a devastating sweep to the UCSB baseball team in the final series of the regular season, erasing any chance of the Gauchos winning the Big West conference and reaching the postseason.
On Sunday afternoon at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium the Gauchos returned the favor by completing a three-game sweep of Hawaii with a 6-2 victory.
“I told them at the beginning of the weekend ‘we got punked last year so be ready to go,’” UCSB head coach Andrew Checketts said.
A grand slam by Justin Trimble highlighted a six-run bottom of the first inning for UCSB. The Gauchos did not score again for the remainder of the game, but the damage was done.
“We did a good job of hanging in there in the box, taking some walks and then we got the swing there by {Trimble}.” said Checketts of the first inning offensive outburst.
UCSB starting pitcher Tyler Bremner excelled in his second start of the season, holding Hawaii to two runs, one earned, in his seven innings on the mound. With the victory, Bremner improved to 6-0 on the season with five of those wins coming out of the bullpen.
“I feel like I definitely had to earn that {starting} spot. I think when Hudson {Barrett} went down they kind of had me in that stopper/closer role because we needed a guy to feel that spot,” Bremner said. “I’ve been pretty good so far in the clutch moments so they gave me that chance and I’m thankful for it.”
Bremner set the tone for UCSB by striking out the side in the top of the first inning. He only struck out two more batters for the remainder of the game, but the early dominance resonated throughout the contest.
In the bottom of the first inning, Aaron Parker led off with a four-pitch walk and the next two batters Brendan Durfee and Ivan Brethowr were hit by pitches to load the bases. Nick Oakley continued his season-long hot streak with runners in scoring position with a single that scored Parker and Durfee to give the Gauchos a 2-0 lead.
Zander Darby walked to load the bases again and Trimble followed with his team-leading seventh home run of the season, increasing the UCSB lead to 6-0.
“The scouting report on that guy was fastball/changeup to lefties. I was working the count, made it to two strikes and honestly I just saw something elevated and took advantage of it,” Trimble said. “Our two strike approach has definitely improved. It is something we’ve worked on and collectively as a group I think we’ve done a good job with that recently.”
Hawaii closed the deficit with an unearned run in the fourth inning and an earned run in the fifth inning, but Bremner regained control, retiring the Rainbow Wahine in order in the sixth and seventh innings.
Freshman Cole Tryba came on in relief in the top of the eighth inning and pitched two scoreless innings to secure the victory.
The Gauchos remain undefeated at home this season at 14-0. UCSB is 21-10 overall and 8-4 in Big West Conference play, despite playing the first ten games of the season on the road due to issues with the playing surface at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. Hawaii is now 19-14 overall and 4-8 in Big West Conference play.