Aceves and Kosciusko lead UCSB to win at LMU

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Nathan Aceves twirled another gem at Page Stadium on Tuesday night, pitching the UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (18-9) past Loyola Marymount (15-14) in a 3-1 victory. Aceves struck out eight Lions over five innings, allowing just two hits and an unearned run. Van Froling, Raymond Olivas and Cole Tryba finished the game out on the mound, with Tryba collecting his second save of the season. At the plate, the Gauchos got all of their runs from the long ball, with Ian Fernandez conquering LMU's Blue Monster for his first career homer and Cole Kosciusko serving up an opposite-field two-run shot.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Aceves, who pitched five shutout frames against USC in his first career start at Page Stadium a month ago, picked up right where he had left off in Westchester, starting the game with back-to-back strikeouts and leaving a two-out double stranded in the first. In the second, he allowed a lead-off single but struck out the next Lion he faced, then Fernandez caught the baserunner trying to take second on a pitch in the dirt. Aceves did issue a two-out walk, but he made up for it by collecting his fourth strikeout of the night to end the frame.

Despite the game only being two innings old, that caught stealing was already the second big hand Fernandez had leant his pitcher. The Gaucho offense had gotten off to a hot start too, and they were unlucky not to score in the first; Kosciusko smacked a line drive back up the middle with runners on second and third and two outs, only for the ball to bounce off the pitcher directly to the third baseman in time for him to fire a throw over to first for the final out of the inning. In the second, Fernandez hit a ball that would not be bouncing off of anyone or anything, clearing the 37-foot "Blue Monster" wall in left for a solo homer.

Back on the mound, Aceves was still plenty comfortable, working around a lead-off walk with two more punchouts in the third and collecting his seventh strikeout in the fourth, again only surrendering a walk in the frame. It was more of the same in the fifth, this time getting a double play to erase a one-out walk after he had struck out the first batter in the frame.

In the top of the sixth, the Gaucho offense extended their lead to 3-0. Liam Barrett earned a four-pitch walk as a pinch hitter, then got to trot around the bases on Kosciusko's opposite field home run, which just cleared the wall in left center.

The lone blemish on Aceves' ledger came in the bottom of the sixth, though the Gauchos nearly got out of it. The righty hit the first batter of the inning and was then replaced by Froling, who got a groundout to second for the first out and a fly ball into center for what should have been the second out. However, a fielding error put runners on second and third instead of an out on the board. The Lions drove home one of those runners with a sacrifice fly, which should have been the third out of the inning. Froling was able to prevent any further damage with a three-pitch strikeout to the next batter.

Froling had more traffic to navigate in the bottom of the seventh, with the first two batters reaching and a sacrifice bunt putting them both in scoring position with only one out. But Froling got out number two with a strikeout, his final action of the night as Olivas came on in relief to take advantage of a more favorable, right-on-right pitcher-hitter matchup. The Gauchos' righty did exactly what he needed to, getting a strikeout on three pitches.

Olivas was back out for the eighth and struck out the side in order, then turned the ball over to the closer, Tryba, for the ninth. It was not a perfect inning from Tryba, but the tenacious lefty worked around a one-out double and walk, striking out a pair of Lions to nail down the save.

BY THE NUMBERS
Tuesday was Aceves' second career start at Page Stadium, and he is still yet to surrender an earned run in 10 innings pitching at the ballpark. Over his two outings in Westchester, the freshman has 14 strikeouts to five walks and five hits.
With Fernandez homering on Tuesday, Gaucho freshmen have hit their first career long balls in each of Santa Barbara's last two games, thanks to Liam Barrett leaving the yard in Long Beach on Sunday. It also makes three years in a row that a Gaucho has cleared the 37-foot "Blue Monster" wall in Page Stadium's left field; Reiss Calvin did it in a neutral-site game against Villanova in 2024 and Ivan Brethowr did it against LMU in 2023.
Olivas recorded all four of his outs on Tuesday night by way of the K, part of a stretch in which Santa Barbara issued six straight strikeouts. Gaucho pitching finished with 16 strikeouts, matching their season high. The program record is 18 in a game, last accomplished on May 25, 2024.

UP NEXT
Having completed their five-game road trip, the Gauchos will return home for their next four games, hosting UC Davis April 4-6 and Pepperdine on April 8. First pitch times are set for 4:35 p.m. Friday, 3:05 p.m. Saturday, 1:05 p.m. Sunday and 4:35 p.m. Tuesday from Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. Fans can also catch all the action live on ESPN+ or with the live audio broadcast and live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com.

(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics)