SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – UC Santa Barbara (27-26, 11-10) completed its series sweep of Big West Conference foe UC Davis (22-28, 7-14) on Saturday afternoon with a 2-0 win at Campus Diamond. With the victory, the Gauchos end the season with a winning record for the ninth time in the last 10 years and they finished conference play with a winning mark for the first time since 2008.
Junior Krista Cobb (15-14) was once again phenomenal for the Gauchos as she pitched her third complete game of the weekend. Cobb gave up just four hits, walked two and struck out four on the way to her third shutout of the season.
Seniors Jessica Beristianos and Katie McWhirter, who were playing in the final game of their careers, teamed up to create the game-winning play at the bottom of the second inning. Beristianos had led off with a walk and was then bunted over to second with a perfect sacrifice by Lauren Boser. McWhirter followed with an infield single that pushed Beristianos to third.
During Amanda Ziegler’s ensuing at-bat, McWhirter dashed to second base. In an attempt to catch her stealing, catcher Kelly Schulze overthrew to second, which gave Beristianos ample time to come home for the Gauchos’ first run.
Cobb did not allow a runner past second base in the remaining five innings and the UCSB defense did a great job. The Gauchos were errorless and turned two double plays to help keep Cobb’s slate clean.
UCSB got an insurance run at the bottom of the fifth when Brooke Putich doubled to left center field and then was sent home by Kathryn Pilpil, who hit a triple into the gap past the Aggie center fielder to push the score to 2-0.
For her part, UC Davis pitcher Alex Holmes (16-20) had a strong outing. She pitched the complete game and allowed just two runs (one earned) on five hits while walking two and striking out two.
UCSB finishes the season in fourth place in the Big West standings behind Pacific, Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton, respectively.
The 2011 Gauchos had a 12-win turnaround from their disappointing 2010 campaign and posted a winning Big West record for just the third time in the last 10 years. UCSB set school records this season for double plays turned (32) and doubles (71).
UC Davis………… 000 000 0 – 0 4 2
UC Santa Barbara…. 010 010 X – 2 5 0
Holmes and Shulze; Cobb and DePompa. Win – Cobb (15-14). Loss – Holmes (16-20).
2B -Holmes(8); Taylor(12); Putich, B.(3). 3B – Pilpil(3). SH – Boser(6). SB -Guzman(9); Smith; Wagoner(4); Beristianos(3); McWhirter; Putich, B.(13).
