With a 6-3 victory over UC Riverside, the UCSB Gauchos all but assured themselves of the opportunity to extend their perfect home record (25-0) in the NCAA baseball regionals next weekend. They came through before a crowd of 1,537, an official attendance record at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, thanks to outfield bleachers that were installed in anticipation of a bid to bring the NCAA playoffs to their home diamond.
The 12th-ranked Gauchos, who smacked nine home runs while outscoring the Highlanders 32-7 in the first two games of the series, played small ball in a clutch four-run rally that broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday.
UCSB had four singles, a sacrifice bunt, a hit batter and a walk in the crucial frame. Second baseman Nick Oakley, a third-generation Santa Barbara ballplayer, stroked an RBI single that proved to be the winning hit, putting the Gauchos ahead 4-2.
Oakley was honored before the game as the only senior on the roster. His grandfather, Bill Oakley, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
“This is the only program that gave me a chance to play college baseball,’ said the young Oakley, who played on two league championship teams at Santa Barbara High. “It means a lot to play in front of my friends and family and wear this uniform.”
Coach Andrew Checketts said that Oakley “has really grown as a team leader” after struggling to prove he belonged early in his college career. Although not known for his power, Checketts put him in the fifth spot of the lineup because “he’s really good with runners in scoring position.”
A week ago, Oakley lifted a two-run homer in the ninth inning to cap UCSB’s 4-2 comeback win at Cal State Northridge. His 49 runs-batted-in are just behind the team-leading 50 by slugger Aaron Parker, who hit a two-run double in the first inning Saturday.
The Gauchos went into a lull during the next five innings, and UCR caught up on a day starting pitcher Tyler Bremner did not have his best stuff. Then came the seventh-inning rally.
The Gauchos posted 21 consecutive Big West wins after losing a series at UC Irvine that dropped them to 5-4 in conference games. They finish the regular season with a 42-12 overall record, 26-4 in the Big West, two games ahead of UC Irvine.
“Baseball is a hard game,” Checketts said. “It’s an amazing accomplishment.”
Checketts felt the Gauchos deserved to host a regional win or lose Saturday, but he conceded that a loss to a 4-26 UC Riverside team would have had them sweating a bit. They erased that concern.
The NCAA will name the 16 teams that host first-round playoff regionals Sunday, and on Monday the brackets will be announced at 9 a.m. on ESPN2.