STOCKTON – UCSB came back to win the final game of the 2010 baseball season in ten innings and complete a series sweep of Pacific on Sunday at Klein Family Field. Jesse Meaux pitched seven strong innings to keep UCSB in the game until the late inning heroics capped off the Gauchos’ season.
The Tigers struck first in the fifth inning after Joe Oliveira lead off with a single and scored on a triple by Dustin Torchio. Ben Gorang padded the lead by singling in Torchio from third, but Meaux escaped without allowing any more damage thanks in part to catcher Marty Mullins’ back-pick at first that retired Gorang at second after a rundown.
The Gauchos did not trail for long. In the top of the sixth, Mark Haddow hit a two-run home run that scored Ryan Tregoning, who reached on a fielder’s choice, evening the score at 2-2.
Meaux pitched two more scoreless innings, finishing the day with seven innings pitched, six hits, and one strikeout. Junior lefty Nick Capito pitched a scoreless eighth frame to keep the game tied going into the ninth.
Designated hitter Ben Edelstein led off the ninth inning with a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch. After Mullins walked, Ryan Palermo grounded into a double play, but Edelstein was not able to score. With two outs, centerfielder Gunnar Terhune hit an RBI single to leftfield that scored Edelstein, giving the Gauchos a 3-2 lead.
Pacific would not go down without a fight. Oliveira led off the bottom of the ninth with a home run off David Meals to tie the game, but Meals retired the next three batters to send the game into extra innings.
First baseman Trevor Whyte led off the tenth with a walk, and Matt Valaika promptly singled to put the Gauchos in scoring position. After Tregoning bunted to sacrifice the runners to second and third, Haddow was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out.
Edelstein came through again, singling up the middle to knock in two runs. Without wasting any time, Mullins stretched the UCSB lead to five runs with a three-run home run that scored Edelstein and Haddow.
The Tigers punched back again in the bottom half of the ninth inning, but it was not enough. After scoring twice to cut the lead to three, Nick Loredo got a fly ball to end the game with runners on second and third.
Meaux pitched seven strong innings only two days after earning the save in the first game of the series. He finished the season with an 8-3 record, leading the team in victories.
Terhune and Valaika led the team with three hits each on the day. The bottom of the order came through in a big way, with seven of the eight runs being driven in by the sixth, seventh, and eighth hitters.
UCSB (24-30 overall, 10-14 Big West) finished the season under .500 for the first time since 2007. The 10-14 league record puts them in a tie for fifth place in the Big West.
