SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (24-11, 10-8 Big West) returns home for a marquee Blue-Green Rivalry series against Cal Poly (25-9, 14-1 Big West), April 17-19, headlined by a nationally televised game on ESPNU on Friday. Fans attending Friday's game can receive a free throwback-style Gaucho hat, while supplies last.
 
The Gauchos will round out their homestand on Monday, April 21, with a rematch against California Baptist (21-16). That game will be the third and final in the season series between Santa Barbara and CBU; both teams have beaten the other once this year.
 
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
Plan to Park in Lot 22 — 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. Lot 27, in front of the Thunderdome, will also be available. 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 saw their season-long six-game winning streak snapped on Monday against CBU in Riverside, suffering a 7-6 defeat. Prior to that loss, Santa Barbara had swept UC Riverside over the weekend, getting them back over .500 in Big West play and into a tie for fourth in the conference standings. Three Gauchos — Jonathan Mendez, Xavier Esquer and Cole Kosciusko — hit .400 or better over the four-game road trip. Kosciusko had a home run against the Lancers on Monday, one of five Santa Barbara long balls on the weekend. Nate Vargas homered against both of the teams the Gauchos faced last weekend, on Saturday at UCR and Monday at CBU. On the mound, Tyler Bremner struck out 10 batters for the second start in a row, moving into second on Santa Barbara's all-time career strikeouts list. Jackson Flora delivered a second quality start in a row on Sunday, shutting out UCR over the first seven innings. Raymond Olivas made the most of his brief cameo on Monday, getting the only two batters he faced out.
 
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
Cal Poly has been the cream of The Big West so far this season, with non-conference wins against then-No. 1 Texas A&M on the road and then-No. 6 Oregon State at home while sweeping their first four conference series. However, it was proven that the Mustangs can bleed last weekend, as Hawai'i knocked them off, 4-2, in extra innings on Friday. Defeating them will still be a tall task, as Cal Poly comes into the weekend having won their last 11 road games. They will host Santa Clara Tuesday night before coming down Highway 101.
 
The Mustangs are an offense-first team, owning the 27^th best batting average in the country and averaging 7.5 runs per game. That being said, their pitching staff is hardly slouching, with the 57^th best ERA in the nation as of Tuesday morning. They have been helped by a strong defense as well; Cal Poly's .983 fielding percentage is sixth in the country, and they have turned 28 double plays on the season, second in The Big West behind only Hawai'i.
 
Griffin Naess, Ethan Marmie and Josh Volmerding have been the Mustangs' weekend rotation for essentially the entire season. Naess' 3.94 ERA leads the bunch, with Volmerding's 5.09 mark the highest of the three, though he did hold UC Davis scoreless over eight innings three weeks ago. In the bullpen, the Mustangs have often turned to Tanner Sagouspe; he has five saves and a 3-2 record in a team-high 17 appearances this season, sporting a 2.96 ERA.
 
At the plate, Cal Poly has seven batters with at least two plate appearances per game and an average above .300, led by Zach Daudet's .410 mark, which ranks 30^th among all Division-I players. Jack Collins is just fourth on the team despite his .343 average, though he has been the Mustangs' top power and clutch bat, with 10 home runs and 42 RBIs on the season, both team highs.
 
SCOUTING THE LANCERS
California Baptist has a road series at Sacramento State on their schedule for the weekend before they see the Gauchos again. Santa Barbara will look to limit freebies in the rematch on Monday as the Lancers walked nine times against the Gauchos in Riverside. Bubba Rocha drew four of those free passes, bringing his total up to 28, good for the team lead and 107^th in all of Division I. Santa Barbara will also look to contain Chris Ramirez after the freshman shortstop improved his team-leading batting average to .361 with a 2-for-3 night against them at the plate. The Gauchos did manage to hold Nick Dumesnil hitless, a feat that they will want to repeat as Dumesnil's six home runs and 33 RBIs are both second on the team.
 
The one man that Santa Barbara will likely not want to see on the mound Monday is David Vizcaino, who held them scoreless over the final two innings, allowing just one hit. The Gauchos were able to get to starter Cameron Teper for three runs over four innings in Riverside, with two home runs, then tagged Andrew Rudd for three more runs on six hits in three innings.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
First pitch times are set for 4:35 p.m. on Thursday, 6 p.m. on Friday and 1:05 p.m. on Saturday against Cal Poly, and 4:35 p.m. on Monday against CBU, all from Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. Friday's game will be nationally televised on ESPNU, and fans can catch all the action in all four games from anywhere by watching on ESPN+. All four games will also have an audio only broadcast and live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.