SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Baseball team slugged its way to a big early lead, then survived a late UC San Diego rally to take the opening game of this weekend's three-game series, 7-5. Jessada Brown's three-run homer proved to be the decisive hit with Aaron Parker's homer providing insurance, while Matt Ager earned his fifth save of the season to nail down the win for starter Ryan Gallagher.
 
FROM HEAD COACH ANDREW CHECKETTS
On matching up against UC San Diego starting pitcher Anthony Eyanson: "I thought we did a really good job offensively against one of the better pitchers, not only in The Big West, but on the West Coast," Checketts said. "You look at those numbers between he and Gallagher, sub-three ERAs, opponents hitting around .170, .180 against them, I thought it would be a little bit of a lower-scoring affair. I didn't anticipate there'd be three homers in a game off those guys because they're both really good."
 
On Gallagher's outing: "I left him in one hitter too many," Checketts said. "Should have got him out, wrong decision by me, but he gave us a solid start, the first six with one run only was a good solid start. Really nice job by Matt (Ager) closing the game."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Gallagher was perfect in his first time through the UC San Diego order, starting his outing by retiring the first 10 Tritons he faced. The offense got off to a hot start too, scoring three runs on three hits through the first three frames.
 
The Gaucho batters were rewarded for disciplined at-bats in the first inning. Ivan Brethowr led off the game with a walk, then Brendan Durfee worked a second base on balls immediately after. Brown laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Brethowr and Durfee up 90 feet, then Parker drove home Brethowr on a scalded, 112 mph groundout up the middle.
 
Brown and Parker got back to doing damage in the bottom of the third, keying a two-out rally to pad Santa Barbara's lead. Durfee started the rally with a double to right center, then Brown hit a two-bagger of his own down the left field line, making it 2-0. Parker cracked a single through the right side of the infield, driving in Brown.
 
The Tritons got a run back in the top of the fourth, but Gallagher set them down in order again in the fifth and allowed just a lone single in the sixth.
 
Brown and Parker made their third trips to the plate in the bottom of the fifth and again, each did damage. Brethowr's single and Durfee's second double of the night put Gauchos on second and third for Brown, who launched a three-run homer to straightaway center field. Parker followed him by blasting a towering, no-doubt solo home run to left field, putting Santa Barbara ahead 7-1.
 
UC San Diego finally started to make more noise on offense in the seventh, getting two runs from two singles, a double and a sacrifice fly, but it could have been more, had Jonathan Mendez made a great play at shortstop. The freshman tracked a shallow fly perfectly, making an over-the-shoulder basket catch to get the first out and keep Tritons at second and third.
 
Gallagher came back out for the eighth inning but gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, ending his night with the Gauchos leading 7-4. Cole Tryba relieved him and struck out a pair en route to ending the inning. However, he found himself in a spot of bother in the ninth, with two singles and an error leading to fifth run for UC Santa Barbara. Matt Ager relieved Tryba and got the final two outs.
 
FROM THE STUDENT ATHLETES
Aaron Parker on his approach to his home run at-bat: "So, two things," Parker said. "Usually when I come up after a home run, I try to do too much, so I made sure that I was calm, collected, and I made sure I was sticking to the approach that was working all day long, and I felt pretty good at the plate, so I was happy about that. The second thing is he started me off in three consecutive at-bats with a first-pitch curveball, so I assumed that a curveball was coming … all I had to do was put the bat on the ball and it went out."
 
Jessada Brown on his breakout season: "You know, it's tough sitting on the bench, but a lot of people start there," Brown said. "I had a lot of people telling me, you've just got to wait for your turn, wait for your shot. I got my shot, and I just ran with it, and I'm grateful for the opportunity, grateful for my coaches for being able to put me in that position."
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Jessada Brown's home run on Friday was his seventh of the season. He is now one away from having as many home runs in 2024 as he had at-bats in 2023.
• By earning his fifth save of the season, Matt Ager has matched his total from 2022, when he earned Freshman All-America honors as a reliever. Ager is 5-for-5 in save opportunities this season and has not allowed a run over his last five relief outings.
• Aaron Parker finished 2-for-3 with a walk on Friday; all three of his at-bats ended with the Gaucho backstop putting a ball in play at over 100 mph.

 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will look to secure the series win on Saturday, May 4, in game two of three against UC San Diego. Santa Barbara will be celebrating Star Wars Day with a special t-shirt giveaway for Saturday's game, and fans can collect a Brendan Durfee trading card. Mike Gutierrez will take the mound for the Gauchos, with first pitch set for 3:05 p.m. The game will also be live on ESPN+ with an audio broadcast and live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.