Justin Jacome pitched a complete-game victory against Long Beach State.
UCSB junior lefty Justin Jacome delivered one of the best starts of his career, leading the 13th-ranked Gauchos to a 3-1 win over Long Beach State on Saturday to even their Big West baseball series.
In his first complete-game effort, the 6-6 southpaw struck out a career-high 12 batters, the most by a Gauchos (18-7, 1-1) starter since April 2012. He finished the day with a line of one earned run, four hits, two walks, and the 12 punchouts in nine innings, bringing his personal record to 4-1 with an ERA of 2.03.
After allowing a single-sac bunt-single combo that led to a run in the top of the first, he was near-perfect the rest of the way, allowing just two hits to the Dirtbags (13-9, 1-1).
The Redlands native faced the minimum between the second and sixth innings, going 1-2-3 in each frame except the fourth, when a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play nullified a Zack Rivera single.
He faced a bit of trouble in the seventh when he walked the first two batters of the inning. A sacrifice bunt later put the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on second with one out.
However, Dirtbags left fielder Alex Bishop fanned on a dipping Jacome change-up to strikeout before pinch-hitter Luke Rasmussen chopped out to second baseman Peter Maris, ending the threat.
Jacome kept that momentum rolling by going 1-2-3 in the eighth, then ended the game by striking out Chris Mathewson on a breaking ball in the dirt after Rivera had made the bottom of the ninth a bit interesting with a two-out double.
Eight of nine UCSB starters recorded a hit on the day. Maris stood out with the bat, going 2-3 with a walk and two runs scored.
UCSB responded to LBSU’s first inning score with a pair of runs themselves.
Leadoff man Andrew Calica opened up the frame with a hard lineout to third base, but then four of the next five Gaucho batters singled off Dirtbags starter Tanner Brown, who entered the game with a 3-0 record and a 1.62 ERA.
The Gauchos evened the score when junior first baseman Dalton Kelly skipped a grounder up the middle, just under the glove of diving LBSU second baseman Zack Domingues, plating Maris. UCSB then went ahead the very next at-bat, as Rivera, the Dirtbags right fielder, got a bad read on soft line drive off the bat of Scott Quinlan, allowing UCSB DH Robby Nesovic to score from second base, sliding into home just under the one-hop throw from Rivera.
Sophomore hitting extraordinaire Billy Fredrick added a crucial insurance run in the eighth inning, ripping a pinch-hit double down the right field line to score Maris. The Santa Clarita native has now reached base in 15 of his 17 plate appearances (seven hits, six walks, two HBPs) for an .882 on-base percentage while he now has a .778 batting average (7-9).
Former UCSB infielder Chris Malec, a cancer survivor who hit a hit grand slam for the Gauchos the day after his return from chemotherapy treatments in 2005, was honored with a pregame first-pitch ceremony.
The Gauchos and Dirtbags will finish up their series with a rubber match on Sunday afternoon, with sophomore righty Shane Bieber (4-2, 2.56 ERA) taking the ball for UCSB. He will be opposed by Mathewson, a right-hander who is 2-2 with a 1.88 ERA this year. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
