Christian Kirtley ignited the UCSB offense with a two-run homer in the third inning and starter Mike Gutierrez kept UC Riverside at bay to give the Gauchos a 6-0 Big West title clincher Saturday for a delirious crowd at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
UCSB won its second Big West Conference championship in three seasons played — and this one going away, with a 23-3 conference record with four games left to play. The Gauchos are 39-12 overall.
The Gauchos haven’t lost a series all season. They play Riverside again Sunday and have a three-game road series against CSU-Bakersfield next weekend.
“We’ve got one more (series) and we have to take care of business,” Gaucho head coach Andrew Checketts said. “Now it’s about how can we get ourselves ready for the playoffs, and what are those little carrots we can talk about so we continue to try to play good baseball.
“We’ve played great the last seven, eight, nine days. Now that’ll be the message — how can we get better and continue to improve.”
The game was scoreless into the bottom of the third, when Kirtley hit a two-out, 2-1 pitch off the Highlanders’ Tuck Juline over the center-field wall, scoring Blake Klassen.
“We had kind of a slow start today, and to be honest with you, with the Big West on the line, I was only trying to get a base hit,” Kirtley said. “Just to ignite us a little bit and get us going.
“But yeah, he hung the curve ball, and I’d much rather get us going with a homer than just a base hit. So I’ll take it.”
And the Gauchos steadily added to the early lead.
“I knew we just needed one big hit and our guys will take care of the rest, take the momentum in and we’ll get this thing done,” Kirtley said. “I got that first homer, and I’m glad those guys followed me up.
Gaucho center fielder Nick Vogt kept the momentum going with an RBI triple to deep center in the fifth, a hot shot that Highlander center fielder Jacob Badawi couldn’t handle at the wall, scoring Bryce Willits.
To open the bottom of the seventh, Broc Mortensen swung at the first pitch and hit his 13th home run of the season to put the Gauchos up 4-0. Two batters later, Vogt hit an RBI double off the right-center wall to increase the cushion.
Sophomore catcher John Newman finished the scoring with a solo home run in the eighth.
Meanwhile, lefthander Gutierrez, improving to 7-1 on the season, scattered six hits in eight innings, always finding the outs when needed. Ryan Harvey pitched a hitless inning in relief.
“The curveball was working pretty good,” Gutierrez said. “The defense was outstanding today. John (Newman) called a good game back there. Just a great team win today.”
And winning the conference title?
“It just feels amazing and I’m just happy I’m able to be a part of it,” Gutierrez said.
“He did a great job,” Checketts said of Gutierrez.
UCSB played errorless defense, and fine plays included two put-outs from the hot corner in the eighth inning, as third baseman Willits reacted quickly and made laser-accurate throws to first.
Before he got doused with a bucket of water during a post-game, on-field interview, Checketts gave his team great credit for exceeding expectations all season.
“Based on the amount of guys we lost from last year’s team, and a few key injuries — for them to come out and be able to win the conference championship I think speaks volumes for their maturity, for the older guys in the group,” Checketts said. “We got a lot of older guys, and this is their last opportunity to put on a Gaucho uniform and I’m happy for those guys.
“They’ve had a heck of a run,” he added. “You talk about the last three years, plus the Covid year,” referring to 2020, with the lost season after the Gauchos won the Big West title in 2019.
“They’ve really played well over the last three or four years.”