SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (April 30, 2023) — The UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (28-12, 13-5 Big West) jumped out to an early lead on Sunday, then held on in the late innings to put away UC Davis (14-25, 5-13 Big West) and complete the three-game sweep with a 5-4 win. Freshman righties Reed Moring and Tyler Bremner came in from the bullpen and put out the fire, with Bremner earning his third save of the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Like they did on Saturday, the Gauchos got their lead-off runner on and brought him around to score in the first inning. Zander Darby hit the first of three consecutive singles to load the bases in the bottom of the first, then Christian Kirtley brought Darby home with a sacrifice fly to center. They could have had more, but a double play ended the first, then another double play extinguished a first-and-third, one-out threat in the Santa Barbara half of the second.

The Gauchos padded their lead in the fifth, plating four runs in the inning. LeTrey McCollum was hit by a pitch to start things off, then Darby's double put him and McCollum in scoring position. Jared Sundstrom's single to left scored McCollum and moved Darby to third, then Broc Mortensen's groundout brought Darby home. With Sundstrom on second, Kirtley's single up the middle made it 4-0 Gauchos. Kirtley would come around to score before the end of the frame, thanks to a double from Ivan Brethowr, to make it 5-0.

With the way starter JD Callahan was pitching, that lead seemed more than comfortable. After allowing a pair of hits in the first, the righty stranded those Aggies on the corners then proceeded to throw 5 1/3 no-hit innings, setting Davis down in order in the second, then again in the fourth.

It took until the seventh inning for the visitors to record their third hit of the day, but that was when things got dicey for the Gauchos. A walk and a double put two Aggies in scoring position, and the lead runner came home on an error. Santa Barbara did get the second out of the inning on the play, catching the batter taking too wide of a turn around first, but the next man up doubled down the left field line anyway to make it 5-2 and end Callahan's day on the mound. An RBI single would make it 5-3 before Sam Whiting entered from the bullpen and got the third out.

A lead-off single helped the Aggies claw back to within one in the eighth, as that runner would come around to score, but Moring was able to prevent any further damage. A scoreless Gaucho eighth meant it was up to Bremner to preserve the one-run lead. The freshman did just that with three fly balls, though the first came perilously close to the left field wall, and the third looked for a second like it might carry out to right.

ON THE STAT SHEET
• This weekend was the first series since 2018 in which the Gauchos did not hit a home run; it is their first time winning such a series since taking two out of three from New Mexico State, March 24-26, 2017.
• In lieu of home runs, Santa Barbara did their damage with doubles, hitting 10 two-baggers in the series, their most in a three-game set this season. Seven different hitters recorded at least one double, with Broc Mortensen, Corey Nunez, and Zander Darby each hitting a pair.
• JD Callahan worked his longest outing and second quality start of the season, going 6 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits and a pair of walks, with two strikeouts. His two Ks came back-to-back to end the first.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos head to Riverside for their next four games — a mid-week matchup with Cal Baptist on Tuesday, May 2, then a three-game weekend series against UC Riverside, May 5-7. All four games will be live on ESPN+ with live stats and an audio broadcast available on ucsbgauchos.com