SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — On a night where runs were scored in bunches, it was Jonah Sebring's standalone solo home run in the eighth inning that decided Tuesday night's baseball game in favor of UC Santa Barbara, 8-7, over California Baptist. Hitting ninth in the Gaucho lineup, Sebring went 3-for-4 with a double and two homers, driving in four RBI. On the mound, Jackson Flora made another strong, four-inning start, and Reed Moring and Tyler Bremner combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief to end it. Bremner earned his fifth victory of the season.  
 
FROM HEAD COACH ANDREW CHECKETTS
On Tuesday's win: "Nice outing from (Jackson) Flora to get us started," Checketts said. "In the strike zone, attacked, in character, I thought he did a really nice job against a strong offensive team. Offensively, obviously we were able to get some swings off, put some runs up, then faded a little in the middle and then our middle relief gave the lead up. They did a good job of hitting. They did a good job offensively of putting pressure on us and making us pay, and then Reed (Moring) came in and was competitive and Brem (Tyler Bremner) came in and slammed the door. Nice day by Jonah (Sebring), he had an outstanding day at the plate."
 
On preparing for this weekend's series at UC Irvine: "We'll get into our video and scouting reports, ultimately, it's about what we do, the basics. Throw strikes, put the ball in play, play catch, you know the talent is enough to turn that into wins."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos had hits in each of their first four innings at bat, and they converted that early momentum into a landslide of runs in the second inning. Jessada Brown led off with an opposite-field home run to right center, and the following four Santa Barbara hitters all not only reached but scored. With Justin Trimble and Jonathan Mendez on base, Zander Darby cracked a firm grounder back up the middle. The Lancer's pitcher inadvertently made a great stop as the ball smacked off his foot, but when he threw home to cut down a run, the throw was wide, allowing Mendez to score from second and making it 3-0. Sebring followed that with an opposite-field homer of his own, taking advantage of the wind blowing out to right field.
 
The Lancers did get two of those runs back in the top of the third with a two-run homer of their own, but Santa Barbara kept on scoring in the bottom of the third. Darby laid down a perfect bunt, reaching with a single, then Sebring drove him in again, scalding a double just inside the third-base bag and down the line. Team RBI leader Nick Oakley then drove Sebring in with a single to make it 7-2 Gauchos.
 
Both pitching staffs managed to cool their opponents' bats in the fourth and fifth, but the Gauchos ran into trouble in the sixth. After getting the first out, Santa Barbara allowed the next seven Lancers to reach base, surrendering five runs in the process. When Moring finally got the last two outs of the inning, the game was all tied up.
 
It stayed that way until the bottom of the eighth thanks to Moring, who worked his best outing of the season so far before handing the ball over to Bremner. After Bremner's first pitch went to the backstop and allowed runners to move up to second and third, his defense made two great picks to keep the game tied. First, Brendan Durfee made an excellent scoop to corral a throw from Mendez and tag out a runner at home on a grounder. Then, after Oakley ranged to his right, Darby dug the ball out of the dirt at first to keep the game tied.
 
Sebring then un-tied the game in the bottom of the eighth, launching a moonshot home run down the line in left. Bremner had to contend with a lead-off double in the top of the ninth, but a pair of strikeouts put the exclamation mark on the victory.
 
FROM THE STUDENT-ATHLETES
Jonah Sebring on overcoming early season struggles: "You know, I've just been over-thinking and stressing about success, and I just wanted to dial it back, get back in the cage and really get back to how I felt in the fall when I was walking up to the plate confident," Sebring said. "So, I have been working with (Coach Fonteno) in there and really getting back to feeling comfortable and feeling balanced and feeling strong at the plate. I haven't started the last two weeks, and I was just hungry to get back in there and have an opportunity and help the team win. It just ended up going my way today."
 
On his hard work paying off: "It's always the best feeling when there is a tight game and you can do something to push it over and help the guys win, that's the best part about it," Sebring said. "It's not really about me doing good, it's just about contributing to the team."
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Jonah Sebring's two-home run game on Tuesday was his second two-homer night as a Gaucho; the first came in a 5-for-6, five-RBI performance at UC Riverside last May, when he also had three stolen bases. He is the first Gaucho to homer twice in the same game since Ivan Brethowr on May 14, 2023 at Long Beach State.
• Jackson Flora has made three starts this season and gone four innings in each of them. Tuesday saw his highest strikeout total among those outings, with five K's on the night.
• Aaron Parker went 2-for-4 against the Lancers to make it four straight games with multiple hits. He extends his streak of hitting in all 14 games he has played this season, recording multiple hits in 10 of them. His batting average improves to .458 on the year.

 
UP NEXT
Santa Barbara heads to Orange County this weekend for their biggest series of the season, a three-game set at No. 16 UC Irvine, April 5-7. The Gauchos and Anteaters were picked as the top two teams in The Big West, and each appear in at least one national rankings poll this week. First pitch times are set for 6 p.m. Friday, 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday from Anteater Ballpark, with Saturday's game to be nationally televised on ESPN 2. Fans can watch all three games on ESPN+ or follow along with the audio broadcast and live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.