LA JOLLA, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (27-12, 12-9 Big West) heads to America's Finest City this weekend, where they will play a three-game series against UC San Diego (20-19, 9-9 Big West), April 25-27, then complete their season series against the University of San Diego (15-24, 9-3 West Coast) with a single game on April 28. The Gauchos have swept each of their last four series against the Tritons, who come into the weekend a game and a half behind Santa Barbara for fourth place in The Big West standings.

LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos are riding high after winning the Blue-Green Rivalry Series against Cal Poly last weekend and walking off California Baptist, 7-6, on Monday. Jackson Flora's complete game, one-hit shutout on Saturday took the headlines for the weekend, but there were great pitching performances from the men in Blue and Gold in all three games against the Mustangs. Tyler Bremner struck out a career-best 13 hitters over seven innings on Thursday, and AJ Krodel racked up seven K's and the win in 4 2/3 innings of sterling relief work on Saturday. And there is more to look forward to this weekend.
 
Over the last two years, games between the Gauchos and Tritons, the last two Big West champions, have produced a reel of memorable moments. The 2024 edition of the series saw Jessada Brown rob what would have been a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning of a 6-3 win, while 2023's series saw Jared Sundstrom mash a home run off of a moving trolley on the tracks elevated behind left field in Triton Ballpark.
 
Of course, there have been plenty of fireworks in the recent meetings between the Gauchos and Toreros. In an elimination game at the 2024 Santa Barbara Regional, the Gauchos ended San Diego's season in a game where all six runs were scored on two-run homers. There were homers in the air in March's rematch at Caesar Uyesaka, including Xavier Esquer's first-pitch lead-off shot.
 
SCOUTING THE TRITONS
UC San Diego has been within five games of .500 all season long and are on an upward trajectory currently, having won six of their last seven. And when it comes to homers, no one in The Big West comes close to the 62 that this year's Triton squad has deposited on the other side of fences.
 
Michael Crossland's 11 long balls lead UC San Diego, though Alex Leopard is close behind with nine. Gabe Camacho, the Tritons' leading hitter by average, is one of three more players with seven homers, the others being J.C. Allen and veteran catcher Emiliano Gonzalez. Both Camacho (.325) and Crossland (.311) are batting over .300 and each has an OPS (on-base-plus-slugging percentage) over 1.000.
 
However, the problem for the Tritons is that they have had to try to out-pace most of their opponents, as UC San Diego's 5.64 team ERA ranks just seventh in the conference, and the Tritons have given up double-digit runs in 12 of their 39 games — 31 percent of their contests — so far this season. Likely Friday starter Matthew Dalquist is the only pitcher on their staff to work 40 or more innings, and his ERA is a respectable 3.90 over 57 2/3 frames. Spencer Seid is the only other arm to throw at least 39 innings for the Tritons, splitting time between starting and the bullpen; he has an ERA of 5.45 coming into the weekend.
 
SCOUTING THE TOREROS
As much as the Tritons are on the up-and-up, their neighbors the Toreros have been rocketing in the right direction recently. San Diego is riding a nine-game winning streak into this weekend, though they are hosting a pivotal conference series against Gonzaga before facing the Gauchos.
 
Freshman outfielder Rex Watson, who got just one at-bat against the Gauchos in March, has been a key figure in San Diego's ascendancy and now leads the squad with 40 RBIs, a number boosted by his seven home runs on the season. Junior first baseman Jack Gurevitch, who tallied an RBI triple in Santa Barbara earlier this year, has continued to lead by example in the offense as well, coming into the weekend with a .370 batting average and a team-high eight home runs. Two-way player Austin Smith and infielder Isaiah Lane also come into the weekend with batting averages north of .300.
 
The Toreros' weekend rotation has stabilized alongside the offense, with Logan Reddemann owning one of the best ERAs in the country at 1.86, but the job of midweek starter is still up in the air. In four mid-week games since they faced the Gauchos, San Diego has started four different pitchers: David Horn, Jack Giordano, Fernando Palencia and Tristan LaMaison. Only LaMaison made it more than two innings, as he was also the only one of those four to surrender fewer than three runs, allowing just one unearned tally to San Diego State on Monday.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
First pitch times are set for 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday from UC San Diego's Triton Ballpark in La Jolla. First pitch on Monday at San Diego's Fowler Park is set for 4 p.m. All four games will be live on ESPN+ with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.