Brown homers twice as Gauchos overcome errors to beat Fresno State at Santa Barbara Regional
UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - It was not a work of art but it was still beautiful.
Jessada Brown, Aaron Parker and the Gauchos slugged their way past Fresno State 9-6 in the first NCAA Regional Baseball game that UCSB has played on campus.
A Caesar Uyesaka Stadium record crowd of 2,110 fans saw the Gauchos improve to 26-0 at home this year and 43-12 on the season.
"Great night," said an appreciative UCSB head coach Andrew Checketts. "Really cool with the crowd here, the atmosphere and the energy, that was really neat to see the community here."
The 14th seeded Gauchos will next play Oregon on Saturday at 7 p.m. in a winners bracket game.
The Ducks edged San Diego 5-4 in 11 innings.
USD plays Fresno State in an elimination game at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The Gauchos struck first as Brown homered to center field to put UCSB up 1-0 in the first inning.
Fresno State took advantage of an error at third by Justin Trimble to extend the second inning.
Ben Newton delivered a two-out, 2-run single to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.
It stayed that way until the Gauchos took the lead for good with a 4-run fourth inning, highlighted by Brown's second home run of the game.
His three-run shot to left put UCSB in front 5-2.
Brown gave his family from Seattle a thrill with his two homer, 4 RBI performance in his first postseason game.
"It was their first time seeing me play in a Gauchos uniform so I was just thankful to have them out here," said the junior.
Gauchos catcher Aaron Parker was perfect at the plate, going 5-for-5 including a solo home run to left in the bottom of the sixth to put UCSB in front 7-3.
"Seeing it well," started Parker. "Just sticking with the approach I had last week (he reached base 12 of 13 times in 3 games) and keep it coming.
Trimble added a two-run single to right in that 6th inning as UCSB built up a 9-3 lead.
But the Bulldogs scored three times in the eighth inning with the aid of the Gauchos third error on the night and a wild pitch.
Fresno State had the tying run at the plate in the ninth but Matt Ager nailed down his 11th save of the season when he got a long fly ball to right-center field to end it.
Ager also tied a school-record with his 16th career save.
Big West Pitcher of the Year Ryan Gallagher got the win (10-1) , going 5 2/3 innings and allowing three runs but just one earned.
"This is the time of year it's not really how how you play the game it's whether you win or lose," chuckled Checketts. "We were a little out of character on the mound and defensively but hopefully we will bounce back and be a little more like ourselves tomorrow."
The 14th seeded Gauchos will play Oregon on Saturday at 7 p.m. in a winners bracket game.
The Ducks edged San Diego 5-4 in 11 innings.
USD plays Fresno State in an elimination game at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Tickets for both games go on sale Saturday 9 a.m. at UCSBGauchos.com
