UCSB’s Matt Vedo must have had someplace other than Caesar Uyesaka Stadium to be on Saturday afternoon because the junior right hander wasted no time in throwing a complete game 5-0 shutout against visiting Pacific.
Vedo completed the game in just 1:57 and needed a mere 89 pitches, 64 of which were strikes. He did not walk a batter, allowed seven hits, six of which were singles, and struck out six.
“I think this was his best outing of the season,” said Gauchos’ head coach Bob Brontsema. “Even with two near no-hitters, this was better. He was dominant and in command the whole way.”
Vedo tossed a one-hitter at Nevada on Mar. 20 and a week ago, he went eight innings of one-hit ball in a combined shutout at UC Davis. The shutout was the fourth in the last six games for UCSB (26-25 overall, 10-13 in the Big West).
Pacific (16-37, 8-15) came into the weekend with one of top offenses in the Big West but has been limited to just a total of three runs in the first two games of the series.
The Gauchos got all the runs they would need in the second inning when first baseman Trevor Whyte led-off the inning with his second home run in as many games and third of the season.
While Whyte’s drive probably didn’t need wind to get beyond the right field fence, the constant breeze at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium on Saturday couldn’t have hurt.
Santa Barbara tallied three more runs in the third inning. Second baseman Sean Williams and right fielder Mark Haddow opened the inning with back-to-back singles. With Williams on third base,
Haddow stole second base. One out later, Williams scored and Haddow steamed into second on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Ryan Palermo.
Then, it was Trevor Whyte time, again.
Whyte walloped a prodigious blast that carried high into the eucalyptus trees beyond the right-center field fence. His two-run clout was his third in the last two games and fourth of the season.
As if Vedo needed it, the Gauchos added an insurance run in the fifth on singles by Williams, Haddow and Palermo.
