It was a good day to be a left-handed Gaucho on Friday, as the UC Santa Barbara Baseball team completed a two-game sweep of San Jose State with a 9-3 win.
Nick Oakley and Justin Trimble combined to drive in seven of the Gaucho runs, and Mike Gutierrez issued eight strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball to earn his fourth victory of the year.
Matt Ager picked up his first save since 2022 in a 3 1/3 inning, six-strikeout relief outing.
Friday morning’s contest started as a pitcher’s duel, with neither team scoring until the fourth inning. Until that point, the only real threat came from San Jose State in the top of the third.
After Gutierrez had faced the minimum through the first two frames, a lead-off double and a wild pitch gave him a runner on third to contend with.
But the Gauchos’ crafty lefty got out of it, striking out the next two Spartans before getting the third out on a pop-out in foul ground.
Santa Barbara’s offense conjured up some two-out magic in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead, with their RBI leader Oakley coming up in the clutch again.
Brendan Durfee and Aaron Parker got on base to start the inning, and after a pair of outs, Oakley blasted a double to deep center field, bringing them both home.
The two-run knock set a new career high in RBI for Oakley, his 22nd and 23rd on the season.
After Gutierrez delivered a shut-down inning in the top of the fifth, Trimble padded the lead with an opposite-field home run, his team-leading fifth, to lead off the bottom half of the inning.
The Spartans got that run back in the top of the sixth with a solo homer of their own and chased Gutierrez from the game, but Ager, who made the All-Big West Second Team as a reliever in 2022, came in and ended the rally.
The Gaucho bats stayed hot in the bottom of the sixth, putting five runs on the board to blow the game wide open. Parker led off with a double, then Ivan Brethowr joined him on the basepath with a walk.
Oakley earned his third RBI of the game when Parker scored on a mis-handled ball up the middle, and he would come around to score before the inning ended.
Another walk loaded the bases for Trimble, and the big lefty drove one through the right side to score a pair of Gauchos. Jonathan Mendez joined the party with a two-RBI single of his own, making it 8-1 Santa Barbara when the inning ended.
Ager struck out the side in the seventh, and Oakley added some insurance after the fans stretched. Another base hit into center scored Skyler Chang, who had pinch-ran for Parker after the Gaucho DH’s third hit of the day.
The Spartans did get two runs back on a double and a sacrifice fly in what was a somewhat sloppy eighth inning, but Ager ended the frame with two K’s, then worked around an error and a hit for a scoreless ninth.
The Gauchos will complete this homestand on Tuesday, April 2, when they host California Baptist in the first half of a home-and-home season series. Santa Barbara walked off the Lancers at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium last season.
Tuesday will be an Isla Vista Community Night, as the Gauchos will wear their Isla Vista City Connect jerseys and welcome groups from the IV community to the ballpark. First pitch is set for 4:35 p.m.