SANTA BARBARA, Calif. --- UC Irvine baseball got a 9-3 win Saturday to lock up a series win over No. 21 UC Santa Barbara at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
- Unlike Friday's start, both offenses were working scoring early and often
- The host Gauchos got on the board first getting the leadoff man on from a hit by pitch, moving him around to third, and then scoring him on a wild pitch for a 1-0 lead after a hitless first inning
- The 'Eaters responded with a bang as Chase Call hammered a home run to center field to flip the lead to UCI, 2-1
- UCSB answered with a two-out double to plate a pair and swipe the lead back, 3-2, in the bottom of the second
- UC Irvine grabbed the lead right back in their half of the third inning on RBI hits by Colin Yeaman and Call to go back up, 4-3
- UCI hung onto the lead and added to it in the fourth as Yeaman and Anthony Martinez hit the ball the other way to score runners and lead, 6-3
- Trevor Hansen was on his game especially after working through the rough patch in the first two innings
- The sophomore shut down the bats allowing two baserunners over the next four frames including 1-2-3 in the third and fifth, and a double play ball in the sixth
- Hansen and the rest of the pitching staff avoided issuing any walks on the game, and Hansen added six strikeouts to improve to 4-0
- David Butler entered after a leadoff single in the seventh and got an interference call coupled with a strikeouts and flyout to keep it a 7-3 lead
- Butler was hit for two singles to start the eighth before Max Martin took over getting the next three hitters and keeping the two inherited runners on base. He added a 1-2-3 ninth inning to wrap up his fifth save of the season
- Call and Yeaman drove the offense driving in three each. Call launched his fifth home run of the year now one behind the 'Eaters' career home run mark
- Yeaman put up his second three-hit game of the weekend and stole his second base of the season
The win gives UCI the series win in the important Big West series between the ranked squads and sides projected to finish 1-2 in the Big West. Sunday awaits with
Ryder Brooks again taking the mound against UCSB's Calvin Proskey at 1:00 p.m.
Postgame Thoughts with head coach Ben Orloff
"It's been pitching and defense. It's been five or six games in a row where we've pitched it really good and played really good defense. Tonight was more of that. A little tough luck early scoring in the first without a hit from free bases, a big two-out double in the second, and then after that Trevor was really good. Three hits in the last four innings, he really gave us that length he's given us three Saturdays in a row. That gives us a good chance to win on Sundays."
"It was 1 through 9 again, felt like there was production up and down the lineup. I told the guys I needed to go back and look, but it felt like there was a lot of two-strike production whether its hits, walks, execution, really proud of that. To answer back both times they scored, and then to add on runs late, that's hard on the other side when you keep putting up those add-on runs."
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