SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Baseball team returns home for a weekend away from Big West action, but the Gauchos' bye is far from a week off. Santa Barbara will host No. 20 Oregon for a three-game series, then head to Los Angeles on Tuesday, where they will face No. 12 USC.
 
Sunday's game against the Ducks is Youth Day at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. Kids ages 13 and under will be able to run the bases following the game before an autograph session with the Gauchos, including Jackson Flora and Rowan Kelly. Fans of all ages can also enjoy a free UC Santa Barbara wig giveaway as they arrive at the ballpark.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos are looking to turn things around after dropping back-to-back Big West series to UC Davis and Hawai'i. After being held to a solitary run in both Friday and Saturday's games against the Rainbow Warriors, Santa Barbara's offense improved thanks to Nico Libed's big day on Sunday, putting up five runs to put an end to what had been a four-game skid. That momentum was derailed in an all-around odd game at Saint Mary's on Tuesday night, though Noah Karliner did find his power stroke for a fifth home run of the season. He is now tied with Nick Husovsky, who D1Baseball ranked among their top 50 first basemen this season so far on Tuesday, for the team lead.
 
SCOUTING THE DUCKS
Despite hosting an NCAA Regional last season, Oregon started this year outside of the top 25 (if only just), but the Ducks have since climbed back into the national rankings with a 21-4 overall record and signature wins over Arizona and Vanderbilt. During the week, they swept a two-game set at UC San Diego in La Jolla.
 
Oregon poses a two-way threat, ranking just inside the top 20 teams in the country by ERA (3.45, 19^th) and just outside it in runs scored per game (8.9, 27^th). A good chunk of those runs come from the long ball, as the Ducks' 53 home runs are third-most in the country and best outside the power-mad SEC. Designated hitter Dominic Hellman has eight of those yard calls, good for second on the team. Four of those came last weekend against Northwestern, in the form of two two-homer games to earn Hellman Big Ten Conference co-Player of the Week honors.
 
SCOUTING THE TROJANS
No. 12 USC started the season even further outside the top 25 than their Big Ten conference-mates but roared into the top 15 thanks to a 19-game winning streak to start the season. Entering the weekend, the Trojans sit at 24-2, having been bested only by Northwestern (and the snow) in Evanston and No. 16 Oregon State in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
 
The USC pitching staff has a case to be the best in the country, leading Division I with a 2.22 ERA. Weekend starters Mason Edwards and Grant Govel have been the main reasons for the Trojans' success on the mound and each carry ERAs under 1.00 into the weekend. While the Gauchos can expect to avoid that dynamic duo, they still have to contend with a USC bullpen that has more pitchers with an ERA under 1.00 than over 3.00. The best chance for Santa Barbara to put up runs could therefore be against Chase Herrell, who has started the last four Tuesday games for USC. Herrell has an ERA of 5.11and has been tagged for multiple runs in three of his last four appearances.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
First pitch times are set for 4:35 p.m. Friday, 3:05 p.m. Saturday and 12:05 p.m. Sunday from Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. Tickets are on sale now at ucsbgauchos.com/tickets, and fans can catch all the action from anywhere, live on ESPN+.
 
When the Gauchos visit USC's Dedeaux Field on Tuesday night, first pitch will be at 7 p.m. That game will also be streamed live on BIG+, with a free audio-only stream available at ucsbgauchos.com.