Santa Barbara Regional Day One: The Gauchos Hold on For 9-6 Victory Over Fresno State

When it comes to postseason play, winning ugly is an entirely tolerable result, and the UC Santa Barbara baseball team emerged victorious before a record crowd of 2,110 on Friday Night at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.

The Gauchos held on to defeat Fresno State 9-6 to begin NCAA Tournament behind an explosive offense, and despite several lapses defensively, which included three costly fielding errors.

“We tried to prep them before the game knowing that there was going to be a lot of people here. There was a lot of energy, and we were trying to get them to stay focused on playing the game,” said UC Santa Barbara coach Andrew Checketts. “We didn’t do that very well.”

It was the first time UC Santa Barbara has ever hosted a NCAA Baseball Regional, but one aspect of the game that was not affected by the magnitude of the moment was the UC Santa Barbara bats. The Gauchos exploded for 15 hits and Jessada Brown delivered two home runs in his postseason debut to spearhead the offensive onslaught.

Brown wasted no time getting the Gauchos on the board in the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run to center field.

With a 1-0 lead and Big West Pitcher of the Year, Ryan Gallagher, on the mound, UC Santa Barbara appeared to be in control, but Fresno State seized momentum with two runs in the top of the second inning.

Fresno State’s Bobby Blankford walked with one out in the inning and the next batter, Justin Stransky, reached based by way of a UC Santa Barara error on a tailor made double-play ball.

After a sac bunt by Michael McKernan, Ben Newton singled up the middle to score Blankford and Stransky. The Bulldogs pulled ahead 2-1 on the play.

“I’m usually, probably 95 percent of the time, trying to go get a fastball,” Newton said. “I got a good pitch that I could get a bat on.”

The tide of the game turned in the bottom of the fourth inning when a three-run homer by Brown that narrowly eluded the glove of Fresno State left fielder Blankford gave the Gauchos a 5-2 lead that they would not relinquish.

McCollum kept things rolling in the bottom of the fifth inning with one-out double off the top of the left field fence. Trimble drove him home with a single as McCollum barely beat the throw into the plate.

Aaron Parker went 5-for-5 at the plate, including a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth inning. Trimble followed with a single through the left side that brought home Sebring and Oakley increasing the Santa Barbara lead to 9-3.

Cole Tryba replaced Gallagher on the mound with two outs in the top of the sixth inning and surrendered three unearned runs in his two innings on the mound. Jackson Flora replaced Tryba with two outs in the eighth inning and Matta Ager recorded the final two outs of the game.

Five UC Santa Barbara players recorded multiple hits, including Brown, parker McCollum, Trimble and Jonathan Mendez.

The Gauchos will take on Oregon on Saturday, beginning at 7 p.m. in the winner’s bracket and University of San Diego will matchup with Fresno State at 1 p.m. in the loser’s bracket of the double elimination regional. Tickets go on sale on Saturday at 9 a.m.

Oregon, 5; University of San Diego, 4 (11 innings)

Bryce Boettcher launched a solo home run over the left field fence in the top of the eleventh inning and the Oregon baseball team prevailed over University of San Diego 5-4 on Friday afternoon in game one of the Santa Barbara Regional.

The two teams went back and forth in a heavy weight bout that was not decided until the final out was recorded as the Toreros clawed back from 4-1 deficit only to see their efforts fall short.

“I thought it was a good college baseball game. Both sides were really gritty and really tough,” said Oregon coach Mark Wasikowski. “I was really proud of the team’s effort to be able to come out on top of that one.”

The game began as a scoreless pitcher’s duel as Oregon Start R.J. Gordon and San Diego starter Josh Randall held the opposing lineup scoreless through four innings.

The Ducks got on the board first in the top of the fifth inning when Carter Garate delivered a solo home run that easily cleared the right-center field fence. However, Oregon’s 1-0 lead was short lived as San Diego answered in the bottom of the fifth inning with a single through to left field by Ariel Armas cored Will Worthington to tie the score at 1-1.

The Ducks played small ball to tack on two more runs in the top of the sixth inning on one hit. Bennett Thompson singled to center field to lead off the inning and scored when Maddox Moloney grounded into a fielder’s choice to put Oregon ahead 2-1.

Later in the inning a squeeze bunt by Garate scored Anson Aroz from third base increasing the Ducks’ lead to 3-1.

San Diego trailed 4-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning when Jakob Christian squared up a 99 miles per hour fastball from Brock Moore for a three-run homer to tie the score at 4-4.

“Before the at bat coach Ungricht gave me the scouting report and we knew he threw hard. I wasn’t trying to do too much. I was just trying to get the next guy up,” Christian said. “Honestly, I was just trying to put a good swing on the first fastball in the zone and not miss it. I think it was a 1-0 {count} and he gave me that pitch. I didn’t miss it.”

Over the next two inning each respective bullpen stood tall as Oregon’s Logan Mercado worked his way out of trouble multiple times in his four innings on the mound. Five San Diego relivers combined to hold Oregon to two runs over the final six innings.