WICHITA, Kan. – Sophomore righty Shane Bieber tossed his first-ever complete game and a four-run fourth inning provided all the offense No. 14 UC Santa Barbara would need in a 6-3 baseball win over Wichita State on Saturday at Eck Stadium.
Bieber was a workhouse for UCSB (12-5) in the tilt, throwing 138 pitches. He allowed seven hits and two earned runs, while walking just one and striking out a career-high 10.
He fired a remarkable 93 strikes in the win and improved his record to 3-2.
Senior left fielder Cameron Newell led the Gauchos’ offensive efforts on Saturday, going 3-4 and reaching base four times. Redshirt sophomore center fielder Andrew Calica added a pair of hits and scored two runs and junior DH Robby Nesovic had a team-best two RBIs out of the cleanup spot.
After the teams traded runs in the first inning, UCSB put together a four-run rally in the fourth inning off Wichita State starter Isaac Anderson to go ahead for good.
Senior shortstop Peter Maris fired the first shot, ripping a one-out double down the right field line to score Luke Swenson, who had worked a walk to open the frame. Senior catcher Campbell Wear followed that up with his only hit of the day, a solid single back up the middle, scoring Maris and putting the Gauchos up 3-2.
Calica kept the party going by swatting a double the opposite way into left field, plating the eventual game-winning run, and then Newell closed the rally with a run-scoring base hit into right-center, making it 5-2 in favor of UCSB.
Meanwhile, Bieber did an excellent job of limiting the Shockers (6-11) throughout the contest. The home team took advantage of a couple of his mistakes, with Ryan Tinkham recording an RBI double in the third and Chase Rader homering in the sixth. Otherwise, Bieber was in command all afternoon.
Bieber was dealt a blow in the first as an error on what should have been an inning-ending groundout turned into an unearned run for WSU, but Wear helped his pitcher out by throwing out an attempted base stealer at second base during the next at-bat.
UCSB’s right-hander then pitched out of two-on, nobody out jam in the second inning without allowing a run, coaxing back-to-back groundouts after the Shockers sacrificed the runners into scoring position for the first out.
After that, he settled into a groove, allowing just four hits over the next seveninnings.
The Gauchos will send junior southpaw Justin Jacome (2-1, 3.16) to the mound in Sunday’s rubber match to face WSU left-hander Sam Hilliard (0-1, 4.58). First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. PDT.
