Starting pitcher Mike Gutierrez returned from injury and gave the UCSB baseball team 2.2 innings of work, striking out two UC Irvine batters.
The Anteaters scored two runs off the junior left-hander and then piled on 11 more against relievers for a 13-1 rout of the Gauchos to take two games in the three-game Big West series.
The loss drops UCSB to 7-5 in conference play. The Gauchos (22-11 overall) are two games behind first-place Cal State Fullerton (12-3) in the loss column. UC Irvine is 7-8 and 21-11.
Gutierrez struck out the first batter he faced, then induced a double play to erase a one-out single. In the second, he worked around a lead-off single, and was one out away from doing the same in the third. A pair of two-out singles brought home a run for Irvine and ended Gutierrez’s afternoon after 52 pitches.
The Anteaters capitalized on a wild Reed Morning. A hit batter loaded the bases and a wild pitch brought in a run for a 2-0 lead.
Irvine tallied four more runs in the top of the fifth, beginning with a two-run homer.
Hudson Barrett relieved Moring and looked to have gotten out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam with a double play. But on review, the runner was safe at first, allowing another run to score. They would add a fourth run in the frame, making it 6-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, John Newman, Jr. provided a spark for UCSB. His pinch-hit double down the right field line scored Broc Mortensen.
But unlike Saturday night’s stunning comeback from a 7-0 deficit, the Gauchos went down quietly.
UC Irvine scored one run in the seventh on a solo home run by Dub Gleed, then added three in the eighth and three more in the ninth.
Gaucho LeTrey McCollum extended his hit streak to 20 games with a single in the fourth inning. Aaron Parker led UCSB at the plate, going 3-for-4.
The Gauchos play a non-conference game Tuesday afternoon at Pepperdine.