SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — After 11 straight games away from home, the No. 25 UC Santa Barbara Baseball team will play its first games at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium this weekend, hosting UConn for a three-game set, March 8-10, before welcoming UNLV to town for a mid-week contest on March 12.
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
First pitch times against the Huskies are set for 4:05 p.m. Friday, 3:05 p.m. Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Sunday, with Tuesday's game against the Rebels to begin at 4:35 p.m. Single-game tickets for all of the Gauchos' home contests are on sale now at ucsbgauchos.com/tickets, with prices beginning at $5. UC Santa Barbara students get in free with their campus ID. For fans following from afar, the games will be live on ESPN+ with an audio broadcast and live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Santa Barbara was in Los Angeles for their last game, a 10-1 win over Villanova at Loyola Marymount's Page Stadium on Tuesday night. Jackson Flora shone in his first start on the mound, and the Gaucho offense scored early and often, highlighted by home runs from Justin Trimble and Reiss Calvin.
 
SERIES HISTORIES
The Gauchos and Huskies have met once before, playing a three-game series at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium in 2016. That College World Series-bound Santa Barbara squad swept UConn, with future pros Shane Bieber, Noah Davis and Joe Record all delivering quality starts on the mound.
 
Tuesday's meeting between the Gauchos and Rebels will be their 52^nd all time but will be UNLV's first visit to Caesar Uyesaka Stadium since 1998. The former Big West foes have plenty of history; All-American third baseman Bill Geivett matched the UC Santa Barbara program record with 12 total bases in a 1985 game against the Rebels in Las Vegas. Most recently, the teams split a two-game set in Las Vegas in 2019.
 
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAUCHOS
Santa Barbara's start to 2024 has hardly been predictable, but Tuesday night's win over Villanova was a display of exactly what this Gaucho lineup can do. Athletes who have had to wait their turns on the bench in previous years have made the most of their chances in 2024, none more so than Jessada Brown and Justin Trimble. Brown, who recorded a total of eight at-bats last year, now has eight RBI in 30 at-bats this year, including his first career home run, and he leads the Gauchos with a .433 batting average. Likewise, Trimble has already surpassed last year's totals in nearly every statistical category, starting the last 10 games and showcasing his power with three home runs. Similarly, Nick Oakley has had a breakout start to 2024, batting .300 and leading the team with 11 RBI after hitting just .197 in 2023.
 
Elsewhere in the lineup, new Gauchos Brendan Durfee and Jonathan Mendez have made the most of their opportunities. After Aaron Parker left the season opener with an injury, Cal Lutheran transfer Durfee took his place behind the plate and has excelled in his first season of Division-I baseball, batting .310 with three doubles and two home runs. The freshman Mendez has started the last two games, taking Zander Darby's place in the lineup after he suffered an injury at Oregon. Mendez marked his first career start with an RBI double against the Ducks on Sunday, and after a 2-for-3 night against Villanova, he carries a .444 batting average into the weekend.
 
On the mound, Santa Barbara's returning starters have only looked sharper as the season goes on, and their freshman arms have delivered big performances as well. Matt Ager is scheduled to start Friday's game after pitching his first quality start of the season at Oregon. The Preseason All-American scattered four hits and an unearned run over 6 1/3 innings while striking out eight Ducks to lower his ERA to 3.07. Saturday starter Mike Gutierrez was strong in Eugene as well, pitching his second quality start (six or more innings allowing three runs or fewer) in a row. Ryan Gallagher will be looking for a bounce-back game on Sunday after a rough start last time out, but the 2022 Freshman All-American has shown good stuff in his return from Tommy John surgery. Opponents are hitting just .133 against him, and he has 11 strikeouts in just 8 2/3 innings of work.
 
In the bullpen, freshmen Jackson Flora and Cole Tryba have already seen plenty of high-leverage work this year; the pair of rookies currently lead the Gauchos' staff with five appearances each through 11 games. Flora was impressive in his first start on Tuesday against Villanova, and Tryba's ability to deliver high velocity with a seemingly effortless motion has caught the eyes of opposing broadcasters on Santa Barbara's early season travels. Tyler Bremner will likely be one of the first guys out of the 'pen this weekend as well; the sophomore righty saw success as a high-leverage reliever for the Gauchos in the back half of the 2023 campaign, earning an All-Big West Honorable Mention. After making a start on opening weekend, he has returned to that role in 2024.
 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
UConn won the BIG EAST regular season title in 2023 and are favorites to win the conference championship this season, but they come into the weekend with just a 3-6 record after losing two of three at No. 23 Auburn. The week before, the Huskies got swept by Cal in Berkeley.
 
Like the Gauchos, UConn has plenty of power in their bats; the Huskies have 13 long balls on the year to Santa Barbara's 15. An area of difference is that the Husky pitching staff has not limited homers as well as the Gauchos. UConn has given up 17 home runs on the year, with seven of them coming last weekend at Auburn. Santa Barbara has only allowed eight.
 
UConn's scheduled Friday starter, left-hander Garrett Coe, was a Preseason All-BIG EAST selection but has given up five of those home runs, three of which came in his last start in the state of California. Saturday starter Gabe Von Eamon is the only member of UConn's weekend rotation yet to give up a home run this year. He pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings and earned the win in relief in his last outing, striking out six Auburn hitters. Sunday starter Stephen Quigley was named Preseason BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year and has pitched more innings than anyone for UConn this season (16 1/3). He has also allowed the most hits on the team with 16, though his ERA sits at 2.76.
 
Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year Jake Studley headlines the UConn order as the team's home run leader, with four on the year. Korey Morton leads the team in average (.375), hits (15) and RBI (six).
 
SCOUTING THE REBELS
UNLV has started the season strong behind a high-scoring offense, coming into the weekend with a 9-3 record and out-scoring opponents 111-54. The Rebels have scored double-digit runs in five of their games, including a 10-8 win over Stanford at Sunken Diamond in February. Their highest run total of the season came in a 23-5 win over defending Mountain West Champions San Jose State last Friday. They also put up 13 runs in their Sunday game against the Spartans, but lost, 16-13. They will face New Mexico in Albuquerque before coming to Santa Barbara.
 
The high-powered Rebel offense has three hitters carrying an on-base plus slugging percentage over 1.000, headlined by team RBI leader Austin Kryszczuk (1.202). The graduate outfielder has driven in 20 runs — the 19th-most in Division I —on the year and is one of two UNLV hitters with a team-high three home runs. Utility player Kade Higgins leads the offense with a .414 batting average, and catcher/outfielder Parker Schmidt provides a speed threat on the bases; he is the only Rebel with more than one stolen base attempt on the season (5-of-6).
 
While UNLV has some impressive pitchers in its weekend rotation, its first three mid-week games have been whole-staff jobs. The Rebels used six arms in their last mid-week contest against BYU and a whopping 10 pitchers despite leading from wire to wire in their 15-1 stomping of Utah Tech. Joey Acosta delivered 6 1/3 solid innings of work in the win at Stanford, but he has only pitched 1/3 of an inning since.
 
UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara continues this homestand as they open Big West play next weekend. The Gauchos will welcome Long Beach State to town for a three-game series, March 15-17.