Seniors Peter Maris and Luke Swenson keyed No. 13 UC Santa Barbara to a four-run rally in the bottom of the eighth with run-scoring extra-base hits, and sophomore right-hander Shane Bieber delivered another sterling performance from a Gaucho starter as UCSB won its series over Long Beach State with a 4-2 win in Sunday’s rubber match at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
With the comeback win, UCSB improved to 19-7 (2-1 Big West) on the year while the Dirtbags fell to 13-10, 1-2.
At first, Sunday’s affair moved at a brisk pace and looked to be yet another ultra-low scoring game in a series that had seen the two teams combined for six runs over 18 innings in the first two games, as Bieber and LBSU starter Chris Mathewson dueled to a 1-0 scoreline through the first seven innings.
Then in the eighth, a bit of a lucky bounce and some excellent execution by UCSB’s hitters produced a decisive four-run rally over the 50-minute half inning.
Freshman shortstop Clay Fisher sparked the outburst by lining a comebacker off the leg of Mathewson, who then threw the ball away when he rushed to retire Fisher at first, allowing him to take second base.
Sophomore center fielder Andrew Calica then laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Fisher to third despite being a in a two-strike count, forcing LBSU to pull in both its infield and outfield.
That necessary defensive shift hurt the Dirtbags big time during the next at-bat, as Maris roped a line drive just over the head of LBSU right fielder Zack Rivera for an RBI double.
A walk, a wild pitch, and two Dirtbag relievers later, and UCSB plated the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly from Robby Nesovic.
Swenson provided much-needed insurance with a run-scoring triple into the right-center field gap during the next at-bat before junior first baseman Dalton Kelly cashed Swenson in and closed the scoring with an RBI single through the right side.
By the end of the inning, five different LBSU pitchers had entered the game.
As was the case in Saturday’s win, one crooked number proved to be enough for UCSB’s pitching staff, as Bieber turned in another fine performance, delivering his third consecutive quality start and sixth in seven outings this season.
By surrendering one earned run on eight hits with no walks and five strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings, Bieber helped the Gauchos match their fewest runs allowed in a series during the Checketts era at five (also against Long Beach, in 2014).
The Laguna Hills, Calif. native left the game trailing 1-0, but he couldn’t have done much more to keep his opponents off the board.
The Dirtbags pushed their first run across on an RBI groundout after leadoff hitter Garrett Hampson had singled to leadoff the inning, but Bieber managed the game masterfully after that, retiring eight in a row before pitching out of a couple jams.
He faced his most adversity in the fourth, when a two-out, two-on ground ball off the bat of LBSU center fielder Tristan Mercadel that should have been an easy putout for Kelly instead bounced off the first base bag for a single.
Kelly did well for himself and Bieber by making an athletic play of the carom to hold the runner at third, then Bieber struck out Jonathan Serven to leave the bags full.
After allowing a one-out double in the eighth and then responding by striking out Rivera, Bieber made way for southpaw Domenic Mazza, who was brought in for a lefty-on-lefty matchup against pinch hitter Zack Belanger, who struck out swinging on an offspeed pitch in the dirt.
Mazza ended up the biggest benefactor of the eighth inning rally, as he received the win to move to 3-0 on the year despite facing just a single batter.
Swenson, the only Gaucho with multiple hits on the day, went 2-3 while Calica reached base for the 26th consecutive game by virtue of a fifth inning single.
UCSB will wrap up its three-weekend homestand with a four game series against Fresno State, starting on Wednesday. The team will then play single games on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before taking Easter Sunday off.
