LOS ANGELES — The No. 25 UC Santa Barbara Baseball team scored early and often in Tuesday night's game against Villanova, tallying at least one run in each of their first five innings at bat to fuel a 10-1 victory at Page Stadium. Justin Trimble and Reiss Calvin both provided power at the plate, launching no-doubt home runs, and Jackson Flora delivered a controlled performance to pace the Gauchos on the mound.  
 
FROM HEAD COACH ANDREW CHECKETTS
"(It was a) nice outing by Flora started us off the right way, he had a good intent, was in the strike zone," Checketts said. "Offensively, we did a good job early getting on base and finally we were able to punch through, we got the four, and then gave us a cushion, gave us a chance to get some guys out there that haven't had opportunities yet. (Hayden) Hattenbach would be the highlight story of that, his return from surgery and Tommy John. I thought he looked outstanding, that was really good. (Brady) Huddlestun came in and did a really nice job as well. I thought all in all, it was a good effort, and the guys did a good job."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Flora got the Gauchos off on the right foot with a comfortable first inning on the bump, allowing just a single before turning it over to his offense. Santa Barbara's hitters were clearly ready to go, as Calvin led off the game by finding the left-center field gap for a double. A walk and hit-by-pitch loaded the bases, and Jessada Brown drove home the first run of the game with an RBI base on balls. The Gauchos did leave the bases loaded, but Flora kept on cruising in the top of the second, again allowing just a solitary single. Calvin picked up his second hit in as many innings in the bottom of the frame to add another tick to the scoreboard, knocking a two-out single into right field to drive home Corey Nunez, who had led off the inning with an infield single, then taken third on a Jonathan Mendez single.
 
With Flora still in cruise control on the mound, the Gaucho offense put its foot to the floor in the bottom of the third. Trimble led off the inning with his third home run of the season to right field, then Brown singled and LeTrey McCollum bashed a screaming double off Page Stadium's "Blue Monster" of a left field wall before Villanova could get an out. Even when they did get that first out, it scored a run, as Nunez grounded into a fielder's choice. McCollum was tagged out at third, but Brown scored and Nunez reached first. Mendez then joined Nunez on the bases with a walk, and Jonah Sebring drove them both home. He lined his third double of the season to the right-center field gap, but got a little too aggressive on the bases and was caught trying to take third on a pitch in the dirt.
 
Santa Barbara got two more runs in the bottom of the fourth and did the same in the bottom of the fifth, with Nunez and Calvin providing the two-RBI hits. Nunez's fourth-inning single scored Trimble from third and Brown from second, and Calvin's big hit in the fifth would have scored anyone from anywhere. The 2023 Junior College All-American got every stitch of his first Gaucho home run, blasting the ball over the Blue Monster and about three quarters of the way up the light pole in left field, giving him and Mendez a casual trot home to make it 10-0 Gauchos.
 
With that double-digit cushion in the top of the sixth inning, Hayden Hattenbach was called from the bullpen, relieving Reed Moring (who had relieved Flora in the fifth). In his first appearance since recovering from Tommy John, Hattenbach found himself in a bases loaded, one-out jam but fired his first strikeout then fielded a groundout to escape the spot. He came back out for the seventh and retired Villanova in order.
 
Also in the late innings, Nick Putnam replaced Durfee behind the dish to catch the game's final three frames, and Skyler Chang made his Gaucho debut as a pinch hitter for Nunez in the sixth.
 
Brady Huddlestun made his first appearance of 2024 in the eighth inning and struck out the side, then passed the ball over to AJ Krodel for the ninth. The freshman had to work around some trouble after the first three batters reached base, though one of them did so on an error. While he did surrender an unearned run in the process, he retired the next three Wildcats to finish the game.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• A season-high five Gauchos had multi-hit games on Tuesday: Reiss Calvin (3-for-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI), Jessada Brown (3-for-4, RBI, BB), Corey Nunez (2-for-3, 3 RBI), Jonathan Mendez (2-for-3, BB) and Jonah Sebring (2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI).
• With nine RBI in his last four games, Corey Nunez is now second on the team with 10 on the season. While he is batting just .194, he is averaging 1.667 RBI per hit and .323 RBI per at-bat.
• Jackson Flora put together a controlled start on the mound on Tuesday. The freshman scattered three hits and a walk over four shutout innings while striking out four Wildcats. He did not allow more than one baserunner in any inning.
• Hayden Hattenbach's relief appearance was his first in 647 days, and if there was any rust, no one at Page Stadium could see it. The big lefty dealt 1 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out two without allowing a hit or a run.
• The Gauchos had a couple potential home-run balls eaten up by Page Stadium's 37-foot-tall Blue Monster of a left-field wall. LeTrey McCollum's third-inning double dented it at 104 mph off the bat, while Jonah Sebring's seventh-inning two-bagger slammed into the wall with a 114 mph exit velocity. No wall in the world would have held Reiss Calvin's home run though, that left the bat at 106 mph.

 UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara will open its home schedule this weekend, welcoming UConn to Caesar Uyesaka Stadium for a three-game series, March 8-10. First pitch times are set for 4:05 p.m. Friday, 3:05 p.m. Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Fans can purchase single-game or season tickets now at ucsbgauchos.com/tickets. For those following from afar, all three games will be live on ESPN+ with an audio broadcast and live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.