SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The No. 22 UC Santa Barbara Baseball team opens their 2025 season at home this weekend, hosting Campbell in a rematch of last season's opening series before welcoming Saint Mary's to town for the first mid-week action of the season on Tuesday. The Gauchos come in as reigning Big West Champions and one of last year's 16 NCAA Regional hosts, boasting a loaded pitchers' room and a new-look group of hitters. The Camels come in looking to remind the country why they are a perennial tournament team after a down first year in the Coastal Athletic Association. The Gaels will open their season with four games against Saint Louis before paying the Gauchos a visit.
 
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
Parking Impacts to Lot 30 — Due to ongoing construction, parking in Lot 30 next to Caesar Uyesaka Stadium will be extremely limited. Fans are encouraged to park in Lot 27 and Lot 22, next to the Thunderdome. UC Santa Barbara Athletics will provide assistance getting to and from the ballpark for seniors and people with mobility issues. 

Introducing the Yardi Youth Pass — In partnership with Yardi Systems, UC Santa Barbara is offering free admission to all home baseball games for young Gauchos in 6th grade or below. Tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, beginning 60 minutes prior to each game from the Yardi Youth Pass table outside the front gate of Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. Availability may be limited due to the stadium's capacity.

LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos went 44-14 in 2024, winning their third Big West Championship in five years and hosting an NCAA Regional at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium for the first time ever. They reached the Regional Final but ultimately fell to Oregon. Their postseason defeats against the Ducks were the only two games Santa Barbara lost in their home ballpark in 2024, as the Gauchos enter 2025 having won each of their last 25 regular-season home games.

This weekend's series is the West Coast edition of last season's opening series, when Santa Barbara visited Campbell in Buies Creek, North Carolina. The Gauchos won the series opener, which was also the first-ever meeting between the two teams, but the Camels won the final two games to claim the series. LeTrey McCollum tallied four RBI on the weekend, and Calvin Proskey — who is set to make his first career start on Sunday — earned his first career win with 2 1/3 innings of work out of the bullpen.
 
The Gaels were the Gauchos' final mid-week opponents of 2024, with Santa Barbara's bullpen powering them to a 4-3 home victory last May. Cole Tryba made his first career start as the opener in that game; if he is to see action in this year's fixture, it would likely be as the closer. 
 
SCOUTING THE CAMELS
Campbell finished 31-22 and missed the CAA tournament in 2024, their first year as members of their new conference. This year is a different first — the Camels' first under new head coach Chris Marx. The longtime Campbell assistant returned to Buies Creek after five years as an assistant at Purdue. Marx's Camels look quite a bit different from last year's squad, as star players Lawson Harrill and Grant Knipp — both of whom homered against the Gauchos last season — are no longer around. Instead, Campbell will look to their successors, senior Dalen Thompson in the outfield and sophomore Andrew Schuldt behind home plate, both of whom earned honorable mention on this year's Preseason All-CAA Team. Both hit over .300 last season, with 17 home runs between them.
 
On the mound, the Camels are set to start three pitchers who the Gauchos have never seen: lefty Jake Murray on Friday, righty David Rossow on Saturday and another lefty, Lleyton Grubich, on Sunday. Murray earned preseason acclaim from D1Baseball, who ranked him No. 135 on their list of the top 150 starting pitchers in the country, though he is set to match up against the man who sits at No. 2 on that list: Santa Barbara's Tyler Bremner. Murray is coming back after missing all of 2024; he pitched to a 3.18 ERA over four starts in eight appearances in 2023. Saturday starter Rossow has pitched just 1 2/3 innings in two appearances for the Camels, allowing eight earned runs on just three hits. Sunday starter Grubich is set to make his Campbell debut after transferring in from McHenry County College.
 
SCOUTING THE GAELS
Saint Mary's went 34-22 and finished third in the West Coast Conference last season. They were picked to finish third again this season, despite the departure of their top four hitters from last season. Two of the three Gaels who recorded RBIs against the Gauchos in last year's meeting are back though, with Ryan Pierce set to play a key role in the Saint Mary's lineup this season. He hit .302 with 15 home runs and 55 RBIs in 2024, second on the team in both categories. He, along with Brian Duroff, was named to the WCC Preseason Team. Left-handed pitcher Derik Eaquinto was as well, but the Gauchos are unlikely to see him on Tuesday; Eaquinto was the Gaels' Friday starter in 2024 and will slot right back into that role in 2025.
 
In terms of pitchers the Gauchos could face on Tuesday, both Justin Santiago and Dylan Delvecchio, who combined to give up three of the four Santa Barbara runs last May, are back for 2025 and not listed in the Gaels' starting rotation for the weekend. Santiago's outing against the Gauchos last year was one of only two times he allowed an extra-base hit, while for Delvecchio it was one of 10.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
The season opens at 4:05 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 14 with game one against Campbell from Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. Saturday's game will begin at 3:05 p.m. and Sunday's at 1:05 p.m. First pitch on Tuesday against Saint Mary's is set for 4:05 p.m. Season and single game tickets are on sale now at ucsbgauchos.com/tickets and all four games will also be live on ESPN+ with live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com/BSBLiveStats.