EUGENE, Ore.— The 26th-ranked UCSB baseball team split a doubleheader with Oregon Saturday afternoon falling in game one, 4-3, before earning their first win of the series in game two, 5-4.
All three games of the series were decided by one run.
In the seven-inning opener, Broc Mortensen hit a two-run homer and Bryce Willits blasted a solo shot, his first of the season.
Lefty Mike Gutierrez (1-1) started for the Gauchos, tossing 5.1 innings and allowing three earned in the loss, while striking out five. Sam Whitingwas the sole ‘Cho out of the bullpen retiring both batters he faced.
Oregon took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, and the Gauchos tied in the fourth..
Jordan Sprinkle reached on an error and stole second, followed by a Kyle Johnson walk. A double play pushed Sprinkle to third and brought up the big bat of Mortensen. With two out, the lefty took a 2-0 ball over the fence in right field to tie the game at 2-2.
The Ducks regained the lead with a run in the fourth and fifth
The Gauchos scored twice in the seventh with two out, Willits belted a home run over the right field wall to make it a one run game. John Newman Jr. was next singling up the middle to put the tying run on base but that would be it for UCSB.
In the nightcap, the Gauchos struck first as Willits drew a lead-off walk in the top of the second and made his way to third on a single from Johnson. Gianni Bloom was next up collecting a sac-fly to left field to bring in Willits and make it a 1-0 game.
Oregon wasted no time taking its first and only lead in the bottom half of the inning with a grand slam to go up 4-1.
Nick Vogt collected an infield single to bring up Mortensen in the top of the third. The reigning Big West home run champ homered over the wall in right field wall to make it a 4-3 game.
Hayden Hattenbach entered in the bottom of the fourth, inheriting a runner with one out. He got out of the inning, retiring two of the next three batters, and followed by shutting down the Ducks in order over in both the fifth and sixth.
In the top of the sixth, Sprinkle collected a one-out single and made his way to second on a Zander Darby walk. Next up was Vogt and he notched an RBI single to right field to score the tying run.
The Oregon defense could not end the play as an error would send Darby home and Vogt to third to give UCSB a 5-4 lead.
Matt Ager entered in the seventh with two on and two out and retired the first batter he faced to preserve the lead. He retired the side in the eighth and faced the minimum batters in the ninth to pick up the seven-out save.
Vogt went 3-for-3 in the game with a walk, a run, and an RBI. Mortensen collected his second home run of the day and added two more RBI to his season stats.