It wasn’t easy, but the UCSB baseball team secured its first conference sweep of the season Sunday after the team bested UC Davis 11-3 in the final of a three-game series at Dobbins Stadium.
“We were able to extend offensively in those late innings and that was key,” UCSB coach Andrew Checketts told Noozhawk after the game.
“They did a good job continuing to come back at us but they finally imploded a little bit in the end and they ran out of pitching and so we were able to put them away, offensively.”
With the win, the Gauchos have now won four straight and 11 of their last 12 — their sole loss being against Cal State Fullerton in game three of that series last Sunday — to improve to 16-5 overall with a 5-1 Big West record.
“We had a good bounce back on Tuesday (at St. Mary’s) and then we just did a good job of bouncing back this weekend. You have to have a short memory in this game,” Checketts said.
On the other side, UC Davis remains winless on the season, currently sporting an 0-12 overall mark and 0-6 start to conference play.
Despite the lopsided final score, UCSB actually trailed 3-1 heading into the top of the sixth inning, but then put together an outstanding offensive performance to run away with the contest.
The Gauchos hit three home runs on Sunday to power their offense, which tallied those 11 runs on just nine hits.
Junior first baseman Kyle Johnson’s three-run shot in the top of the sixth gave UCSB the lead right back at 4-3. Johnson would finish 2-for-5 on the day with 3 RBI’s.
For the series, Johnson was strong from the plate, going 5-for-12 with 5 RBIs. He is now batting .300 on the season.
“We have hit a lot of homers this year. That KJ (Kyle Johnson homer) was set up by a hit by pitch, so they are doing the little things and that was a nice job of team offense to set up those big things,” Checketts said.
“We were just able to get some good swings off.”
After neither team put one on the board in the seventh inning, the Gauchos struck again in the top of the eighth, delivering four runs.
The frame started with a solo shot from sophomore outfielder Nick Vogt, who blasted one to left field for his third of the season.
Throughout the rest of the inning, mistakes killed the Aggies chances of trying to make a comeback. In total, UC Davis’s pitching staff walked four Gauchos in the frame, leading to two runs, while the other run scored on a hit-by-pitch.
For the game, UC Davis walked six batters and committed three errors.
In the final inning, the Gauchos added another three runs for good measure, as after a sac fly, sophomore outfielder Broc Mortensen hit his team-leading sixth home run of the season, a solo shot, which put the Gauchos up 10-3.
UCSB would score one more due to an error to get the final score.
On the mound, the Gauchos’ bullpen was again solid, with sophomore Michael Rice and freshman Brady Huddlestun each pitching one inning, and neither allowing any hits. Huddlestun struck out the side in the ninth during his outing.
Freshman Ryan Gallagher got the start and pitched well, going seven innings and allowing just five hits and two earned runs while striking out eight.
“He did a nice job of getting that win late,” Checketts said. “He stayed out on the mound and threw out a couple more 0s after a tough 3-spot in the fifth, so he did well.”
UCSB will face UCLA on the road Tuesday, with first pitch set for 6 p.m. The Gauchos will then host Hawaii for its third Big West Conference series of the season starting Friday.