Jack Dashwood dazed and confused Cal State Northridge batters in UCSB’s 4-2 baseball win on Saturday at Matador Field.
The win gives the Gauchos records of 35-7 overall and 11-3 in the Big West.
The Matadors had no answer for Dashwood who clocked six innings of work, allowing one run on four hits while striking out eight to improve his record to 7-1 on the year.
To get on the board early, Tevin Mitchell drove in the first two runs of the game with an infield single to second which plated both Andrew Martinez from third and a hustling Tommy Jew from second.
“Today was a little bit different,” said Dashwood. “I had this feeling that when we had the two-run lead early in the game, those were the only two runs we were going to need. I just told myself ‘Hey, you’ve got the lead, let’s go finish this one out.’”
Santa Barbara added another run in the fifth after McClain O’Connor ripped a lead off double to left. Thomas Rowan brought home O’Connor with a deep sac fly to left field to put UCSB on top 3-1.
Isaiah Nunez had a solid day on the hump for CSUN, with a 7-inning performance, allowing three earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and a walk.
It wasn’t enough to get the job done as he suffered his fourth loss of the season to move to 7-4.
Mitchell tacked on an insurance run in the top of the final frame with a single to score Marcos Castanon for RBI number 30 this season.
Six Gauchos now have 30 or more RBI this year. Mitchell contributed 3 RBI and went 2-for-4 for his second multi-hit game in a row to put his batting average at .625 for the series.
To close things out, Chris Lincoln came in and shut the door with two consecutive outs in the ninth for his Big West-leading 12th save of the season.
Seven Gauchos recorded a base hit, including multi-hit days from Mitchell, Castanon, and Armani Smith who blasted a pair of doubles.
UCSB finishes off it weekend slate against CSUN on Sunday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.