The UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (18-10, 5-8 Big West) demonstrated why wins and losses should not be a pitching stat on Friday night, as starter Tyler Bremner struck out 10 UC Davis (14-13, 4-6 Big West) hitters over seven innings without walking any of them.

Still, he took the loss after giving up a single run on just four hits as the Gauchos fell, 1-0, in the first game of their three-game series with the Aggies.

After Bremner struck out the side in the top of the first, Santa Barbara thought they had taken the lead in the bottom half of that inning.

After LeTrey McCollum worked an 11-pitch walk, Jonathan Mendez lifted a fly ball deep down the left field line, watching it hit the netting behind the wall.

Despite the ball impacting the netting just on the foul side of the pole, it was originally called a two-run home run.

That decision was then changed to foul ball after a conversation among the umpires, a change that was then upheld after Santa Barbara’s challenge. Mendez ended up striking out.

In something of a cruel twist, the Aggies did get on the board in the top of the second.

A single up the middle ended a run of four consecutive strikeouts for Bremner, but Xavier Esquer made a great play at third base to get the second out, diving to snag a hard-hit grounder along the line and throwing a rocket over to first base, though the runner on first was able to take second.

That advancement would prove critical, as he was able to score on Davis’ soft two-out, two-strike single into left center. It would end up being the only run of the game.

Bremner worked perfect frames in the third, sixth and seventh innings, ending his evening by retiring the final eight Aggies he faced in order.

In the fourth, he had just one runner to deal with after a one-out hit batter, but he had more to do to keep Davis off the board in the fifth.

After two one-out singles, Bremner faced Aggies on the corners and just one away in the fifth, but he kept them stranded there with a strikeout and a groundout.

Bremner’s day on the mound was done in the top of the eighth, with Donovann Jackson relieving him. The lefty struck out the first batter he faced but then allowed back-to-back singles and was relieved by Raymond Olivas.

Olivas went on to finish the game on the bump, getting a double play ball to end the eighth, then working a perfect ninth.

On offense, the Gauchos put runners aboard in every inning but the sixth, they were just unable to bring any of them home.

Twice they were robbed by diving catches in the right field corner; first it was Cole Kosciusko being denied a two-out single in the sixth, then it was Liam Barrett’s deep fly ball being chased down in foul ground.

Santa Barbara’s best chance to score was in the seventh, when Reiss Calvin and Rowan Kelly hit back-to-back two-out singles and then moved to second and third on a passed ball, but they were stranded there.

Friday’s defeat ended the Gauchos’ 17-game winning streak against UC Davis, a run that dated back to 2018. Santa Barbara’s longest active win streak against a Big West opponent is 18 consecutive victories against Cal State Bakersfield.

Bremner’s 10 strikeouts on Friday were not only a season high for him, but also the first 10-K haul for any Gaucho pitcher this season.

It was the third double-digit strikeout night of Bremner’s career, with his last coming on May 25, 2024 against UC Riverside. That was also the last 10-strikeout outing by any Gaucho.  

With his 10 punchouts, Bremner moved into sole possession of fourth place on UC Santa Barbara Baseball’s career strikeouts list with 231, overtaking Mike Gutierrez. The player ahead of him is now Shane Bieber, who racked up 237 K’s over his Gaucho career.

Olivas’ 1 2/3 scoreless innings of work to finish Friday’s game extends his scoreless streak to 4 2/3 innings, and lowers his ERA to 2.03 on the season.

Speaking of streaks, McCollum’s first-inning walk extended his team-leading on-base streak to 24 games.

Santa Barbara will look to bounce back on Saturday, April 5 in the second game of this three-game series.

First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, where Calvin Proskey is set to take the mound for the Gauchos, fresh off his seven shutout innings of work last Saturday at Long Beach State.

Fans can also catch all the action from anywhere by watching the ESPN+ broadcast or with the audio only broadcast and live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com.