SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Each of the No. 25 UC Santa Barbara Baseball team's run-scoring hits left the ballpark on Saturday as three home runs helped Gaucho starter Mike Gutierrez out-duel Long Beach State's Kellan Montgomery. Santa Barbara won the game, 6-2, securing a first Big West series victory of the season with it. Justin Trimble, Ivan Brethowr and Nick Oakley provided the homers for the Gauchos.
 
FROM ACTING HEAD COACH MATT FONTENO
"It was great, sometimes you get a big win and you come back the next day and you're not sure how the guys are going to respond, and we were ready to play," Fonteno said. "(Gutierrez) led the way on the mound, he did a good job for us, and then we had some key hits with three home runs scoring all our runs today, so I'll take that any day."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The pitching equation was the same for Fonteno on Saturday as it was Friday: let your veteran starter work the first half, then bring in a young reliever to shut the door. Gutierrez scattered four hits across his 5 1/3 innings of work, allowing solitary runs in the third and fourth frames while striking out six Dirtbags before handing the ball to Jackson Flora, who closed out the final 3 2/3. The only big hit the Gauchos' veteran lefty Gutierrez allowed on the day was a double to right center in the fourth, which center fielder Reiss Calvin nearly tracked down after a long run.
 
Flora stepped in after the Dirtbags put runners on first and second with just one out with Santa Barbara leading, just 3-2, in the top of the sixth. The freshman's first pitch was hit right to Oakley for a tailor-made double play to end the inning. That would be the biggest threat Flora faced in his extended save; the only other time Long Beach had two runners on base was with two outs and Santa Barbara leading by three in the eighth. In all, Flora scattered three walks and just one hit over his outing while striking out four Dirtbags.
 
On offense, the Gauchos got some clutch home runs to spoil Dos Pueblos High School alum Montgomery's homecoming as a Dirtbag. Brendan Durfee and Aaron Parker, whose at-bats seemed to mirror each other's all day, started a rally with a pair of singles against the shift in the third, then Jessada Brown's groundout moved them over a base before Trimble crushed the first pitch he saw out to left center for a three-run homer.
 
In the sixth, Trimble led off by reaching on an error, his hustle down the line forcing a rushed and inaccurate throw from Long Beach's second baseman. Brethowr promptly capitalized with a first-pitch homer of his own, blasting a fastball out to left field.
 
Oakley's eighth-inning moonshot was the most impressive and final long ball of the day, a solo homer to provide some insurance. He crushed it, 453 feet down the right field line, the longest at Caesar Uyesaka Statdium so far this season.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Brendan Durfee tallied a game-high three hits on Saturday, two of which he blasted right through the shift Long Beach put on against him, with three Dirtbags on the right side of the infield.
• With his home run in the third inning of Saturday's game, Justin Trimble moves into a tie for the team lead at four, alongside Brendan Durfee and Zander Darby.
• The versatile Jackson Flora continued his run as the only Gaucho pitcher to face each of Santa Barbara's opponents this season, making his team-leading seventh appearance on Saturday. The rookie righty has a 1.29 ERA in 14 innings of work.
• After holding Long Beach to a 5-for-30 day at the plate on Saturday, the Gaucho pitching staff has dropped its Big West-leading team batting average against below .200, to .199. Coming into the weekend, Santa Barbara ranked seventh in the nation with 6.51 hits allowed per game.

 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will go for the sweep on Sunday, March 17 in the final game of this three-game series at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m., with Ryan Gallagher 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.