Gauchos slug 5 home runs and Gallagher pitches another gem in laugher at CSUN
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The No. 22 UC Santa Barbara Baseball team brought their big bats to the San Fernando Valley on Friday, clubbing five home runs to power a 14-2 victory over CSUN in the first game of a three-game series at Matador Field. While the offense slugged, Ryan Gallagher dealt as usual on the mound, carrying a perfect game into the sixth inning and a no-hitter into the seventh as he held the Matadors to one run on just two hits over seven frames.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After both sides went down in order in the first, the Gauchos struck for their first run of the day in the top of the second as Jonah Sebring started his good day at the plate. After Nick Oakley got himself aboard with a one-out single, Sebring brought him home with a two-out double to a similar spot in left field.
The offense kept it rolling in the third, loading the bases with just one out, but Santa Barbara had to settle for just a solitary run off of Aaron Parker's sacrifice lineout. The Gauchos finally put up a crooked number in the top of the fifth inning. LeTrey McCollum worked a seven-pitch at-bat to lead off the frame, getting aboard thanks to a fielding error. Ivan Brethowr followed him and punished the Matador mistake with a home run to left center, his first and the Gauchos' first of the day. Sebring hit the Gauchos' second big fly of the afternoon in the next inning, stretching the Santa Barbara lead to 5-0 with a solo shot.
While the Gaucho offense was figuring out Matador pitching, Gallagher was absolutely stumping CSUN hitters. Santa Barbara's ace retired the first 16 batters he faced in order, carrying a perfect game bid into the bottom of the sixth. He walked the bases full in that frame but escaped without allowing a hit or a run. His no-hit bid and scoreless streak both ended in the bottom of the seventh when CSUN plated a run on two singles, but by then the result was no longer in doubt.
In the top of the seventh, the Gaucho offense put up eight runs on just five hits, three of which left the ballpark. Jessada Brown started the party with a solo shot, then Zander Darby made his way to second on a walk and wild pitch. Parker's single into right scored Darby, and after Oakley and Jonathan Mendez joined the catcher on the basepaths, Sebring's sacrifice fly scored Santa Barbara's backstop for the Gauchos' eighth run of the game. Justin Trimble collected Oakley and Mendez with a three-run, opposite field home run. After McCollum worked a nine-pitch, two-out walk to keep the inning alive, Brethowr made the most of his second at-bat in the frame with his second homer on the day.
Reed Moring relieved Gallagher and pitched the final two frames of the win, allowing just a single run in the eighth. Brown got that run back for the Gauchos in the top of the ninth with a bases-loaded single.
BY THE NUMBERS
Friday was Santa Barbara's first five-homer game as a team this season. They had five such games en route to their program record 86 long balls in 2023.
Ivan Brethowr's two-homer game was his second of the season. Before Friday, Brethowr was still the most recent Gaucho to leave the yard twice in a game, doing so on April 9 against Loyola Marymount. He and Jonah Sebring now own the last five multi-homer games for Santa Barbara.
After carrying a no-hit bid for 6 1/3 innings last weekend at Cal State Bakersfield, Ryan Gallagher carried his no-hit bid an extra 1/3 of an inning on Friday, making 20 outs before surrendering a hit. The Matadors' seventh-inning run ended a streak of 14 2/3 scoreless innings for Gallagher.
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will look to secure their sixth straight Big West series win and extend the nation's longest active conference winning streak on Saturday in game two of this three-game series at Matador Field. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m., with Mike Gutierrez scheduled to take the mound for Santa Barbara. The game will be live on ESPN+ with live stats and an audio broadcast available through ucsbgauchos.com.
(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics)
