Bremner sets all-time UCSB strikeout record in lopsided win at LMU

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Tyler Bremner set a new UC Santa Barbara Baseball record on Friday night, racking up his 275th career strikeout and going on to issue 10 K's as the Gauchos (32-16) routed Loyola Marymount (24-25), 12-1, in the opening game of a three-game series. The offense put up big numbers in the third and eighth innings, with Nate Vargas, Jonathan Mendez, Rowan Kelly and Liam Barrett all tallying multiple RBIs on the night.

FROM HEAD COACH ANDREW CHECKETTS
"(Bremner is) in the strike zone a lot," Checketts said in a mid-game interview. "You look at his walk totals and his strikeout-to-walk ratio is really good, one of the better ones in the country. He's in the zone, and when you're in the zone a lot, you get to two strikes more and you get more strikeouts. I always tell my guys, I haven't seen anybody in my career yet strike out with less than two strikes. You've got to get there first. He's doing a good job of getting ahead tonight."

HOW IT HAPPENED
"In the zone" may have been an understatement of Bremner's start to Friday's game. The righty was perfect through five innings and faced the minimum through six with the help of a double play. Through those opening six frames, the Lions managed to put just eight balls in play against Bremner, while the junior racked up double-digit punchouts. His first of the night came to end the first inning, then he started the second inning with two more. That third strikeout of the night put him alone atop UC Santa Barbara's career strikeout leaderboard, surpassing the 274 that Dan Yokubaitis collected between 1983 and 1986. He went on to strike out the side in the third and again in the fifth before allowing his one and only hit to begin the sixth. Another strikeout and a double play got him out of the frame having still faced the minimum.

While Bremner was racking up strikeouts, the Gaucho offense was racking up runs. A two-out rally in the second got Santa Barbara on the board, with Mendez reaching on a fielder's choice, Xavier Esquer walking and then Barrett driving Mendez home with a single through the right side of the LMU infield.

The Gauchos then turned their lead into a comfortable cushion with a four-run third. Jack Holman hit a one-out double down the right field line and took third on a balk, then Isaac Kim hit a flop shot of a double into the magic spot in left field where no Lion could reach it, scoring Holman from third. Vargas kept the double trouble going, finding the gap in right center to score Kim, then Mendez conquered the Blue Monster in left field, clearing the 37-foot-tall wall to make it 5-0 Santa Barbara.

LMU got one of those runs back in the seventh, with a one-out walk coming around to score after Donovann Jackson relieved Bremner. However, the Gaucho offense kicked into gear again and made their lead bigger than ever before in the top of the eighth. Back-to-back singles and a walk loaded the bases, then Vargas earned another RBI the hard way, being hit by a pitch to force home a run. Mendez followed that up with a five-pitch walk to force home another run, then Kelly drove in a pair with a single into right field. Barrett's sacrifice fly to center gave Santa Barbara their fifth run of the inning and 10th of the game.

Jackson stayed in and set down the side in order in the bottom of the eighth, and the offense stayed hot when they came back out in the top of the ninth. A walk and a single got runners aboard for Vargas, and the Gaucho catcher pulled a ball down the right field line, tracing it into the corner for a two-RBI triple, making it 12-1. Jackson finished the game, allowing just a walk in a scoreless ninth.

BY THE NUMBERS
The Gauchos finished the evening with five doubles, two of them by Vargas, a feat they have accomplished four other times this season. As for Vargas, his last two-double haul was just three weekends ago, on April 27 at UC San Diego.
Vargas's team-high four hits on Friday are a new career high for the Gaucho backstop. Before Friday's game, he had not even tallied three hits in an NCAA contest.
Speaking of career marks, Bremner's career-record-breaking haul of 10 strikeouts is his fifth double-digit strikeout night this season, all five of which have come in the last six weeks. He now has 282 strikeouts in UC Santa Barbara's Blue and Gold.
There is still one Gaucho record waiting to be broken this weekend, as LeTrey McCollum continues his pursuit of the longest on-base streak in program history. With an eighth-inning single and a ninth-inning walk, he extended his on-base streak to 44 games, one away from tying and two from breaking the previous record, set by Christian Kirtley in 2022. McCollum also has a 20-game hitting streak.

UP NEXT
The series now moves to Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, where the Gauchos will host the Lions on May 10 and May 11. First pitch times are set for 3:05 p.m. on Saturday and 1:05 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are on sale now at ucsbgauchos.com/tickets and both games will be live on ESPN+.

(Article courtesy UCSB Athletics).