A two-run double by sophomore Aaron Parker in the bottom of the seventh and masterful work by freshman southpaw Hudson Barrett proved to be enough to give the UCSB baseball team a 2-1 win over Seton Hall at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium Thursday evening.

The Gauchos have now won four straight and sport a 9-3 record, while Seton Hall falls to 4-7 overall on the season.

“We have struggled a bit, but the positive spin to this is we are 9-3 and we can take that,” UCSB coach Andrew Checketts said after the game.

UCSB trailed 1-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Corey Nunez and John Newman Jr. each worked a walk for the Gauchos. Parker came up with two outs and ripped a first-pitch fastball into the gap of right field, scoring both Nunez and Newman Jr. for the 2-1 lead.

Technically, Newman Jr. scored on an error by Seton Hall’s second baseman who dropped the ball for a split second, allowing the designated hitter to round home.

Parker currently sports a .353 batting average with seven RBIs, the second-best marks on the team.

“I’ve been seeing the ball pretty well, and he threw a fastball and I didn’t try to do too much and got the runners moving,” Parker said.

Santa Barbara had a chance to extend the lead in the bottom of the eighth, as Zander Darby legged out a triple with just one out. But Christian Kirtley and Nick Oakley couldn’t cash in on the prime position.

Checketts said the team has struggled to find any consistency offensively.

“​​We have struggled hitting sliders and that’s all they throw at us. We haven’t adjusted yet and until we adjust, it’s going to be tough,” he said.

It’s been some of the veterans in particular that have gotten off to slow starts. Kirtley and Broc Mortensen, two of the Gauchos’ best hitters in 2022, are batting .125 and .175, respectively.

“We’re better than what we’ve shown offensively,” said Checketts. “I believe we’re more athletic, we’re more talented. I think there’s more to us in than we have shown in the past two weeks, but I think we will get it right. Coach Ferg does a great job.”

Like his coach, Parker is also a big believer in the team’s offensive potential.

“I’m just really excited to see our bats get hot because once they do, we are going to be really tough to deal with. We’re really strong on the mound and, we haven’t shown it all the time, but we’re really strong with the bats,” Parker said.

“Once we get a little hot, get some hits tied together and get really good at moving, we are going to be tough.”

Missing out on that insurance run almost proved to be costly for the Gauchos.

After setup man Nick Welch pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth, UCSB turned to Sam Whiting for the save.

The junior didn’t have his his best stuff as he walked the first batter and hit the second.

Checketts turned to his freshman arm, Barrett, whose first pitch went into the dirt, allowing both Seton Hall runners to advance into scoring position with no outs.

But the freshman didn’t let the moment get the best of him.

“We learn about focusing on the next pitch, execution and so even though that first pitch went to the backstop, I just wipe it out and go to the next one, keep focusing on throwing strikes,” Barrett said.

That plan worked out fine as he struck out the next batter to get the first out.

He then forced Seton Hall’s Jeider Hernandez to hit a weak grounder to second, where Oakley scooped the ball and made the smart play, throwing it to home and recording the out.

He would force the final batter to line out to right field, ending the contest.

“We have the luxury of having two guys we think could close games. Sam didn’t look like he had it today and we were able to make that switch pretty quick,” Checketts said.

“Barrett’s been really good for us this year and the stats showed some of those right handers were worse against left handers than they were against right, so the combination of those two things… this really says a lot about the poise of a freshman pitcher and a great play by Oakley.”

Due to Friday’s rain, the teams will conclude their three-game series on Saturday with a doubleheader, starting at 10:45 a.m.