An incredible season of resilience by the UC Santa Barbara baseball team came to an end on Sunday night following a 3-0 loss to Oregon in the Santa Barbara Regional Final.
The Gauchos defeated University of San Diego 4-2 on Sunday afternoon to earn another shot at the Ducks, but ran out of gas in their climb out of the losers bracket as the offense fizzled for the second time in as many days against Oregon pitching.
“The end of the year is always sad. Our guys gave a fantastic effort this year,” said UC Santa Barbara coach Andrew Checketts. “I’m really proud of what they accomplished and what they overcame.”
Oregon starting pitcher Kevin Seiter delivered a legendary performance. He tossed a complete game shutout and limited the Gauchos to four hits. His most impressive stat was perhaps the 128 pitches he threw.
“The strength of Kevin to finish that game off in the ninth inning, he would have punched us if we would have tried to come and take the ball away from him, and he deserved the opportunity to win that game on his own out there with his teammates defensively,” said Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski. “This is why he came here. He felt like he could help us get to Omaha. We’re not there yet, but we’re one step closer now with a tremendous performance from him.”
Matt Ager got the start for the Gauchos against Oregon after pitching two times in relief earlier in the weekend. He surrendered two runs on two hits in 4.2 innings of work.
Oregon was able to set the tone with one run in the bottom of the first inning. Mason Neville led off the inning with a walk, Chase Meggers followed with a sac bunt, and Drew Smith scored Neville with a single to left field as he narrowly slid under the tag of UC Santa Barbara catcher Aaron Parker.
The Ducks increased their lead to 2-0 when Bryce Boettcher walked, advanced to second on wild pitch and scored on a single up the middle by Neville.
Reed Moring replaced Ager to record the final out of the bottom of the fifth inning. Jacob Walsh closed the scoring with a massive solo home run to right-centerfield in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Gauchos did not get a base runner to second base against Seiter until there were two outs in the top of the ninth inning. Parker laced a single through to center field to keep the Gauchos alive and Nick Oakley followed with a single through to right field to put runners on first and third.
Jonah Sebring represented the game tying run, but his foul tip was snagged by Oregon catcher Chase Meggers for a strikeout.
The historical success of the 2024 campaign was an incredible result after the team began the season without a home field to play on. The Gauchos hosted a NCAA Regional for the first time in history, went undefeated at home with a 27-0 record during the regular season, and won the Big West Championship.
“People asked how we were undefeated at home and I think part of it was that when you have something taken away from you and then you get it back, you’re pretty grateful to have a field,” Checketts said. “We are pretty grateful for each other, we’re grateful for the opportunities, and I know that I may project it on these guys, but we’re always grateful to live in Santa Barbara.”