SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The No. 20 UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (7-1) returns home to Caesar Uyesaka Stadium this weekend, hosting Fresno State (4-4) in a three-game series Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Gauchos then head to Los Angeles on Tuesday for a mid-week meeting with USC (7-1). The weekend series with the Bulldogs is an extended rematch of the opening game of last season's NCAA Regional at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, when Santa Barbara defeated Fresno, 9-6.
 
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 22, the garage 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 6^th 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 are riding a four-game winning streak after a perfect road trip, capped off by Tuesday's 13-2 win over Pepperdine in Malibu. Over the weekend in San Diego, Santa Barbara took care of business against Seattle U, San Diego State and California Baptist with 9-3, 7-5 and 6-3 wins in that order. Jack Holman continued his white-hot start to the season, hitting .625/.714/1.438 with two doubles, a triple and three home runs over the four-game away stretch. Cole Kosciusko hit .467/.524/.733 on the trip with a double and a homer, and LeTrey McCollum hit his first career home run on Saturday. On the mound, Donovann Jackson, Jackson Flora and Reed Moring all turned in stellar outings without allowing a run. While Calvin Proskey and Chase Hoover each got dinged for a single earned run, they once again worked as a strong tandem on Sunday.
 
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Fresno State played its first road game of the season on Tuesday, falling to Saint Mary's, 11-3, to drop back to .500 on the season. Last weekend, the Bulldogs took two out of three from Cal State Fullerton, and they split a four-game set with BYU on opening weekend.
 
As a team, the Bulldogs have a solid offense and solid defense, ranking just outside the top half of all Division I teams in ERA and just inside the top half in runs scored per game. Their .971 fielding percentage is above the national average but still low enough to hurt them, as Fresno's defense has given up 10 unearned runs through eight games. The Bulldogs also have a power issue, having hit just three home runs while allowing 14. That ratio will have the Gauchos licking their lips, as Santa Barbara hitters have 15 home runs on the season and their pitching staff has allowed just five.
 
Of course, the Bulldogs did score six runs against the Gauchos in last year's Santa Barbara Regional without the help of a home run, and two of their impact players from that game are back for 2025. Bobby Blandford and Justin Stransky each doubled against the Gauchos in that meeting; Blandford is batting .333 with seven RBIs so far this season, and Stranksy is one of the only Bulldogs with a home run. Blandford's seven RBIs are second on the team behind Sky Collins, who is hitting .321 himself, and Triston "Murf" Gray is one of the other Bulldogs to leave the yard this season. He had a great Santa Barbara Regional, though the Gauchos held him 0-for-4.
 
SCOUTING THE TROJANS
USC has lost just one game coming into the weekend, but they have their toughest stretch of the year coming up, hosting UConn and No. 14 Vanderbilt, then visiting UCLA before hosting the Gauchos.
 
Like Santa Barbara, USC has built its success on its pitching so far in 2025, ranking 39^th nationally in ERA and 33^rd nationally in WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched). For comparison, the Gauchos rank 28^th and eighth, respectively. The Trojans are also one of the 28 teams to shut out an opponent already, having blanked Cal State Bakersfield in their first mid-week game of the season. That strong pitching is all well and good, as the Trojans' offense ranks a modest 132^nd in the nation, averaging 6.6 runs per game. They do hit the ball well, ranking inside the top 100 teams for batting average and 13^th in the country for triples, with four.
 
Ethan Hedges is responsible for most of USC's offensive production, including two of those triples. The junior two-way player is batting .406 and ranks 31^st nationally with 13 RBIs on the season. He also has a team-high four home runs, good for 15^th in the country. Hedges is also the Trojans' closer, with two saves on the season already. There are six other Trojans batting .300 or better in the lineup, with Kade Higgins the most dangerous behind Hedges. The UNLV transfer has three home runs and a .375 average coming into the weekend.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
First pitch times for the Gauchos' series against Fresno State are set for 4:05 p.m. on Friday, 3:05 p.m. on Saturday and 1:05 p.m. on Sunday. Single game tickets are available now, and it is not too late to buy season tickets at ucsbgauchos.com/tickets. This weekend's games will also be live on ESPN+ with live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com/BSBLiveStats.
 
Santa Barbara's meeting with USC on Tuesday will take place at Page Stadium on the campus of Loyola Marymount, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. The game will be streamed live on B1G+ with an audio broadcast available at ucsbgauchos.com/BSBRadio and live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com/BSBLiveStats.