SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Baseball team returns to the friendly confines of Caesar Uyesaka Stadium on Tuesday, beginning a five-game homestand by welcoming Loyola Marymount to town. Tuesday night's game is the first half of a home-and-home series between the Gauchos and Lions, continuing one of the longest-running series in Santa Barbara Baseball history.
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
First pitch from Caesar Uyesaka Stadium is set for 4:35 p.m. Tuesday evening. Fans can also catch the game live on ESPN+ or follow along with live stats and an audio broadcast, available through ucsbgauchos.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos dropped two out of three games at UC Irvine, now the No. 12 team in the country, over the weekend, though Santa Barbara's victory was in Saturday's nationally televised contest. Mike Gutierrez held the UC Irvine offense, one of the top 20 Division-I teams in runs scored per game, scoreless over six innings while striking out seven, and the Gaucho bullpen did just enough to hold on for a 5-4 victory. Jackson Flora made a tremendous defensive play as part of his fourth save of the season.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Santa Barbara and LMU have met 146 times previously, making this neighborly rivalry the second-most frequent non-conference matchup in Gaucho Baseball history. Santa Barbara holds the edge in the all-time series and recent history, having won the last five and 79 overall (with two ties). The Gauchos have not lost to the Lions in Santa Barbara since 2012 and won the home half of last season's series, 7-4. Zander Darby had a three-hit night in that game, while Jonah Sebring and Ivan Brethowr each drove in two runs. Brethowr had a great year against the Lions, going a combined 4-for-9 with a double, a home run and five RBI in two games against LMU.
 
ISLA VISTA COMMUNITY NIGHTS
UC Santa Barbara is celebrating the neighborhood it calls home during all Tuesday night games at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium this year with Isla Vista Community Nights. The Gauchos will wear special uniforms which read Isla Vista across the front and will welcome groups from throughout the community to the ballpark. On Tuesday, UC Santa Barbara will proudly welcome the Isla Vista Recreation and Park District to the ballpark and celebrate all they do for the community.
 
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAUCHOS
Home Sweet Home
Santa Barbara has been red hot at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium this season, winning each of their first nine home games by a combined score of 72-30, batting .290 as a team while holding their opponents to just a .193 average. Aaron Parker has been the hottest of the Gaucho hitters at home, batting .514 in his home ballpark with an on-base plus slugging percentage of 1.247. Parker is one of three Gauchos with an OPS over 1.000 at home, with Brendan Durfee at 1.136 and Jonah Sebring at 1.750 in limited at-bats. Sebring had a monster game last Tuesday, blasting two home runs and a double against California Baptist. He also hit his first triple of the season over the weekend at UC Irvine, completing a week in which all of his hits went for extra bases.
 
The Gaucho pitching staff, which has scuffled on the road this season, is plenty comfortable on their home mound, pitching to a 2.96 ERA in 82 innings. In those nine games, Santa Barbara's staff has struck out 104 batters while walking just 28. That strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.71 is nearly two points better than their full-season ratio of just 2.06.
 
Lefties Leading the Offense
Left-handed Gauchos new and old have played key roles in Santa Barbara's offense this season, with the arrival of Durfee, the resurgence of Nick Oakley and a breakthrough year from Justin Trimble proving crucial to the Gauchos' offensive success. Durfee, a transfer from Division-III Cal Lutheran is the only Gaucho to play all 27 games this season and leads the team in hits with 39; his 20 RBIs are second on the team. The only man to drive in more runs is Oakley, a fourth-year Gaucho in the midst of a career year. After batting just .197 in 2023, Oakley is hitting .297 this year with a career-high 30 RBI. Those 30 ribbies have come on just 30 hits, making him the only Big West hitter with 30 or more RBI on 30 or fewer hits. Both Durfee and Oakley have reverse splits, hitting better against left-handed pitchers than righties this season, with Durfee batting a monstrous .381 against southpaws. While Trimble has the lowest batting average of the three, his bat has plenty of pop; the third-year Gaucho has made the starting third base spot his this year and drilled six home runs. With 16 walks and a team-high 11 hit-by-pitches, Trimble has one of the best on-base percentages on the team.
 
The Pitching Equation
Santa Barbara will send freshman right-hander AJ Krodel to the mound for Tuesday night's game, giving the rookie from Villa Park his first career start in his third appearance. Both of Krodel's first two outings lasted an inning, at Sacramento State in February and against Villanova in early March, with the righty not allowing an earned run in either. He struck out two batters in his debut against Sacramento State and has allowed just one hit without issuing a walk. With his limited experience, he is yet to face a left-handed batter this season. When it comes time to relieve Krodel, Tyler Bremner would be the Gauchos' top choice, but he pitched twice this weekend and is likely unavailable. Flora, who started Santa Barbara's last three mid-week games, would be one of the next-best options, as would fellow freshman Cole Tryba. Tryba has been Santa Barbara's first-choice left-hander in relief but has struggled lately, surrendering eight earned runs while making nine outs over his last three outings. If he can re-find his stuff, he can be elite, with five scoreless outings on his resume, including at Campbell and Oregon plus a 4 1/3 inning scoreless day at Cal Poly.
 
SCOUTING THE LIONS
LMU comes into Tuesday's game with a 12-20 record on the season and in the midst of a six-game losing streak. The Lions have just one win in their last 10 games, 5-4 over Pepperdine. While LMU sits in the middle or bottom of the pack in most statistical rankings, the one thing they do very well is steal bases, ranking 26th in Division I for total steals and 30th in stolen bases per game with 62 swipes in 32 games (1.94 per game). They have attempted a total of 87 stolen bases, giving them a success rate just over 71%.
 
Two Lions, Sam Biller and Brendan Bobo have double-digit stolen bases this season, with 14 and 11 respectively. Biller also leads the team in home runs with nine and is second in RBI with 26. Bobo leads the squad with 29 RBI and is one of just two Lions to start every game.
LMU hitters certainly are not shy at the plate either, with the team's 79 hit batters the third most in Division I baseball. Grant Weiss has 12 to lead the squad (but only ranks third in the conference), while Bobo has 10.
 
On the mound, the Lions plan to start sophomore right-hander Ryan Mullan, whose only two-inning-plus outing was his last one at San Diego on Friday. Mullan has pitched a total of 19 2/3 innings over 18 appearances, all in relief this season, striking out just 15 batters while walking eight and surrendering 10 runs (nine earned). Mullan is one of three Lions with 18 appearances, tied for second-most in the country with fellow relievers Seamus Barrett and Austin Schroeder.
 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos have four more games at home following Tuesday's. Santa Barbara will host Hawai'i for a three-game series over the weekend, then welcome UCLA to Caesar Uyesaka Stadium next Tuesday, April 16, to complete their home-and-home series with the Bruins.