SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — For a second game in a row, the UC Santa Barbara Baseball team held on to a lead late against UC San Diego, and for a second game in a row, Jessada Brown played hero. After his four-RBI night on Friday, Brown did it with his glove Saturday, leaping at the wall and taking away what would have been a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning. Matt Ager worked his way out of another bases-loaded spot in the ninth to nail down the 6-3 victory.
 
FROM HEAD COACH ANDREW CHECKETTS
"I mean, fantastic start by Gutierrez," Checketts said. "Not surprising, but pitched seven innings, eight punchies, two runs, really good. The play of the game's the flyball to left that Brown steals the grand slam from. It was a good baseball game. They don't go away, I thought our guys did a good job of executing offensively and staying with it."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Saturday's game began as a pitchers' duel between Santa Barbara's Mike Gutierrez and UC San Diego's Matthew Dalquist, with neither starter allowing a run the first time through the order. The offenses finally broke through in the third, with a two-out double and single getting the Tritons on the board first. The Gauchos did answer right back, leading off their half of the third with a single and a double to put two runners in scoring position. A one-out passed ball allowed Jonathan Mendez to scamper home with the tying run, and Brown's RBI groundout brought home Ivan Brethowr to make it 2-1.
 
The Gauchos never trailed from that point on, with Gutierrez facing the minimum in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Also in the sixth, Santa Barbara's offense built up a cushion with a big rally. Brendan Durfee, Brown and Aaron Parker went single, single, double to start the inning, then Nick Oakley drove in a run on a groundout to make it 4-1. With two outs, Jonah Sebring kept the rally alive, slapping a ball the opposite way down the first base line to score Parker. Mendez brought the Gauchos' total up to six before the end of the frame with an RBI single of his own, scoring Sebring.
 
A pair of seventh-inning doubles got the Tritons a run back, and Jackson Flora took over for Gutierrez to start the eighth. But like they did yesterday, UC San Diego rallied. After an infield single, walk and passed ball, a one-out double cut the Gaucho lead to just 6-3, and Cole Tryba came in to relieve Flora. Tryba struck out the first batter he faced, but hit the next to load the bases, and the Gauchos summoned Ager from the bullpen. The righty watched his second pitch of the night get lifted deep to left field, only for Brown to make a massive leap, launching much of his upper body over the wall and making the catch to rob a grand slam.
 
The Gauchos got a hit but no runs off Triton closer Izaak Martinez in their half of the eighth, and UC San Diego loaded the bases against Ager again with two outs in the ninth. Ager got out of it with another flyout, this time a very straightforward affair for Sebring in center.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• On Jessada Brown's game-saving play, the fly ball he reeled in had an expected batting average of .828, meaning 82.8% of balls with the same exit velocity and launch angle turn into hits.
• Mike Gutierrez allowed just two earned runs on five hits in seven innings of work, while striking out eight batters Saturday. It is just the second time in his last six starts that he has allowed more than a single run in an outing.
• The Gauchos did not hit a single home run on Saturday, breaking a 15-game streak of long balls. The last time they did not homer was the 5-4 victory over UC Irvine on April 6.

 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will go for their seventh series sweep of the season on Sunday, hosting the final game of this three-game series against UC San Diego. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, with Tyler Bremner set to take the mound for the Gauchos. The game will be live on ESPN+ with live stats and an audio only broadcast available through ucsbgauchos.com.