IRVINE, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Baseball team heads to Orange County for a potential Big West title decider this weekend, taking on No. 16 UC Irvine for a three-game set. The Gauchos were picked as preseason favorites to win the conference, but the Anteaters have started the season red hot. Santa Barbara did take the series last time they visited Anteater Ballpark in 2022.
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
First pitch times are set for 6 p.m. Friday, 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday, with Saturday night's game to be nationally televised on ESPN 2. Fans can watch all three games on ESPN+ or follow along with live stats and an audio broadcast on ucsbgauchos.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos kept their home unbeaten streak rolling with an 8-7 win over California Baptist on Tuesday, thanks to a breakout game from Jonah Sebring. He launched a pair of home runs, including the game winner, and knocked a double to finish with four RBI on the night. Santa Barbara did have to deploy some of their big guns out of the bullpen, with closer Tyler Bremner pitching the final inning and two thirds to earn his fifth win of the season.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The all-time series between UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine is about as tight as it gets, with the Anteaters holding a 54-53 edge. There has hardly been a home field advantage in this series recently; the visiting team has won each of the last three sets between these two clubs, with Irvine taking two out of three in Santa Barbara last year after Santa Barbara did the same in Irvine in 2022.
 
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAUCHOS
The Pitching Equation
The Gauchos' answer to the question, 'how do you get 27 outs?' has started with Matt Ager, Mike Gutierrez and Ryan Gallagher for all but two series this season, and those three are set to be the three starters again this weekend. Gallagher comes in with plenty of momentum after a career outing on Thursday in which he allowed just one hit while striking out 10 batters against San Jose State, a career high. The redshirt sophomore leads the staff with a 2.02 ERA, the 24th best in college baseball. He has a WHIP of just .83, and opponents are batting just .122 against him. Gutierrez started last Friday and issued eight strikeouts to bring his total up to a team-high 41. Ager piggybacked off Gutierrez on Friday, striking out six.
 
In the bullpen, the Gauchos have plenty of arms able to go multiple innings, the with flamethrowing righty Bremner atop the list. He has stepped into the closer role for the injured Hudson Barrett, but also threw 97 pitches in a six-inning relief outing at Cal Poly. His five wins lead the squad. Freshmen Jackson Flora and Cole Tryba have also been key relievers, making 10 and 11 appearances, respectively.
 
Milestone Watch on the Mound
A pair of Gaucho pitchers are closing in on career milestones, with one very much in reach this weekend. Matt Ager comes into the series with 192 strikeouts in his Gaucho career, and while eight K's gets him to the magic 200, he is only three away from the 10th most in program history, a spot currently held by Troy Kinto. Ager's season high is eight K's, which he threw at Oregon; his career high is 13. Elsewhere in the rotation, Mike Gutierrez is closing in on a pair of milestones in his Gaucho career, with 184 strikeouts in Blue and Gold and 17 career victories for Santa Barbara. If he hits 20 wins this season, he will move into a tie for 10th most victories in program history alongside four other Gauchos, including Justin Jacome. Currently, his .850 winning percentage (17-3) makes him the second-winningest pitcher to ever put on a Gaucho uniform.
 
"Next Man Up" On Offense
On offense, the Gauchos' depth has been their strength this season, with multiple players filling gaps due to injuries, only to play their way into those roles permanently. Justin Trimble and Jessada Brown have had to "wait their turns" over the first two years of their Gaucho careers but have played their way into the starting third base and left field spots, respectively, this year. Brown is hitting .338 this season and has found his power stroke lately, hitting two doubles and three homers in his last five games. Trimble owns the team lead in home runs with five, and his patient approach at the plate has him second on the team with 16 walks. His walk-off hit by pitch last Thursday was his team-leading 10th of the year. Freshman Jonathan Mendez has also played his way into the starting shortstop role, hitting .313.
 
The Gauchos now have the big bats of Aaron Parker, Ivan Brethowr and Zander Darby back from injuries, and they have benefited from the resurgence of Nick Oakley and the arrival of Brendan Durfee. Parker's bat has been the biggest this season; Santa Barbara's designated hitter is hitting .458 on the year, with at least one hit in all 14 of his games. He comes in having recorded multiple hits in each of his last four games. Brethowr's power has always been his selling point, but the big righty's plate discipline has improved this year; he has been walked or hit by a pitch more times than struck out. Oakley is the team's leader in RBI this season, driving in a career-high 26 runs. Durfee is second on the team with 20 RBI and owns a .358 batting average while catching every game.
 
SCOUTING THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine has one of the best records in the country at 22-3 and has signature wins over San Diego, Michigan and UCLA on their resume. Two of their losses do stick out, as they were shut out by the UConn team UC Santa Barbara had just swept, then blew an eight-run lead to UC Davis, losing in extra innings.
 
The Anteaters are a generally strong team all around, ranking among the top 20 Division-I programs in scoring, on-base percentage, team ERA and fielding percentage. The only major categories they rank outside the top 100 in are home runs per game and steals per game, where they are 179th and 191st, respectively.
That does not mean they lack power or speed, as Thomas McCaffrey's team-leading five homers match the total of the Gauchos' leader, as do Woody Hadeen's eight stolen bases. Elsewhere in the lineup, Caden Kendle leads the conference in batting average and on-base percentage, while Anthony Martinez leads in RBI.
 
On the mound, the Anteaters have the trio of Nick Pinto, Trevor Hansen and Brandon Luu in line to start this weekend, having done so in that order in each of the last three series. Pinto's 1.91 ERA is 16th in the country and leads the conference, but he has only one scoreless outing on the season. Last time out at Hawai'i, he posted a season-low three strikeouts, and two weeks ago, he allowed eight hits to Cal State Bakersfield. Both Hansen and Luu have ERAs over four and got beat up in their last starts, allowing multiple runs in less than four innings each.
 
UP NEXT
Following this series, the Gauchos return home for a five-game homestand, beginning on April 9 against LMU. Santa Barbara will also host a weekend series against Hawai'i, April 12-14, then round out the homestand with the second half of their home-and-home series against UCLA on April 16.