The UC Santa Barbara baseball team made history on Sunday by sweeping Blue-Green Rival Cal Poly at Baggett Stadium for the first time in program history.
The Gauchos scored four runs in ninth inning to beat the Mustangs, 7-3, to complete a three-game sweep of their Big West series.
Before the weekend, UCSB hadn’t won a game in San Luis Obispo since 2014. Its win on Saturday secured its first series win at SLO since 2010. Sunday’s finale gave the team a sweep over the Mustangs for the first time since 1998.
With the win, the Gauchos improve to 30-10 overall and 19-2 in the Big West and extend their lead over second-place Cal Poly (24-19, 11-7 in Big West) to 6.5 games
“It’s been tough to win up here,” UCSB coach Andrew Checketts told Noozhawk after the game. “Since I’ve been here, we’re, I think, 1 of 13 up there and hadn’t won a game since 2014. They got a real fan base, it’s a loud, noisy, hostile environment and they do a nice job. They’ve got a real home-field advantage there, so it’s big weekend for the guys. They played great, very resilient.”
Similar to Saturday, the Gauchos found themselves down early in the finale.
An RBI single by Cal Poly’s Collin Villegas gave his team a 1-0 lead against UCSB starter Ryan Gallagher. With runners on first and second, Gallagher mitigated the damage by inducing a double play to get out of the inning.
The Gauchos tied the score at 1-1 in the top of the second as Nick Oakley singled off former Santa Barbara High teammate Bryce Warrecker, went to third on Broc Mortenson’s single and scored on a Jordan Sprinkle sacrifice fly.
Warrecker pitched three innings, allowing one run and four hits and striking out three.
Gallagher got into a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the second, but he pitched out of it and allowed only one run on a sacrifife fly to left.
Gallagher settled in nicely after the second. He went seven innings, allowing just eight hits, two earned runs while striking out four and walking one batter. He received a no decision in the contest.
The score remained 2-1 until the seventh inning, as Cal Poly’s Jason Franks quieted the Gaucho bats after coming in relief of Warrecker in the fifth.
UCSB finally got the offense rolling in the seventh as a Bryce Willits and Blake Klassen hit back-to-back triples to tie the score and Christian Kirtley had a RBI sac fly to give the Gauchos a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the eighth, Cal Poly’s Joe Yorke tied the score with a solo homer off Gallagher.
Junior Clayton Hall, in just his third appearance of the season, came up big in relief, allowing no hits and just one walk while striking out one over the final two frames to secure the win.
The Gauchos loaded the bases in the ninth as Blake Klassen singled, Kirtley was hit by pitch and Kyle Johnson walked.
Franks was replaced by Zach Button.
FIRE US UP OAKLEY �� He blows this game up with a 2 RBI double to right to extend the lead to 4‼️
T9 | Gauchos 7 – Mustangs 3#GoChos pic.twitter.com/EpdLYaVgAR
— UCSB Baseball (@UCSB_Baseball) May 1, 2022
“Their guy, Franks, is good,” said Checketts. “We were targeted early and, after being able to have multiple at-bats off, the guys were able to catch up and get on time for his fastball and put some good at-bats together.”
Nick Vogt and Oakley each doubled in two runs to give the Gauchos a 7-3 lead.
Hall would secure the win in the ninth inning, allowing just one Cal Poly batter to reach base.
“There was a lot of poise after the Yorke home run,” said Checketts. “Hall came in and did a really nice job pounding the strike zone, and then offensively we were able to fortunately have Klassen lead off for us in the ninth and we finished it,” Checketts said.
Checketts said the return of catcher Gianni Bloom to the lineup was a key factor in the sweep. At the plate, Bloom went 4-for-13 and drove in three runs in the series.
But it was his play behind the dish that made a big difference.
“Our other catchers all do a good job but there’s a presence about Gianni when he’s behind the plate that makes all of our pitchers better,” Checketts said.
“He calls his own game. He called the whole weekend and that pushes the tempo. He knows when to say something, who to talk to and when to take visits and how to work umpires, so he is really good.”
The Gauchos worked 15 hits on Sunday, with six batters registering at least two hits. Klassen had one of the best weekends, going 6-for-14 with five RBI.
Oakley also played well as the second baseman was 6-for-11 on the weekend, including the big two-run double in the ninth.
Offensively, the Gauchos were outstanding on the weekend, registering 39 hits and scoring 25 runs.
“Our offense is good and when you’ve got an offense that is dangerous, it has a lot of bounce to it, it makes you feel like you’re not out of the game,” Checketts said.
“When we get quality pitching, our offense has really been able to do a good job and put some points on the board so that allows you to feel some confidence that when you’re down a run or two, you have a chance to hit a home run or get on base and put some pressure on them with some team offense.”
Checketts said despite the 6.5 game lead in the Big West, there is still “a lot of work to do.”
“It’s all the clichés, one game at a time, but it’s all real. We have a game Tuesday we need to get ready for that and when we get to Friday, we will worry about Irvine,” Checketts said.
UCSB will face Pepperdine at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.