FULLERTON – Thomas Eshelman tossed eight innings of shutout ball on Friday night to lead No. 22 Cal State Fullerton to a 3-0 blanking of sixth-ranked UC Santa Barbara in a matchup at Goodwin Field featuring a pair of top-25 teams and two of the best right-handed pitchers in the county.
Eshelman’s counterpart, UCSB (34-12-1, 11-5) ace Dillon Tate, was solid in his effort as well, allowing two earned runs with eight strikeouts while pitching into the sixth.
It was Eshelman however, who guided his team to victory, allowing just three hits with one walk while striking out nine. The Gauchos were able to muster one hit in each of the third, fourth, and fifth innings, but otherwise the CSF (27-20, 12-4) right-hander held down the top-ranked offense in the conference, finishing his outing by retiring the final 10 batters he faced.
UCSB had its best chance to get on the board in the third, when Campbell Wear led off the frame with a double to left field. With the game scoreless at that point, Wear moved to third on a Clay Fisher sac bunt, however the next two Gaucho hitters were unable to get a ball to the outfield, stranding the UCSB catcher at third.
Cal State Fullerton was not an offensive juggernaut by any means, collectively tallying just six hits off Tate and the Gaucho bullpen.
The tiebreaking run came in the fourth inning, as CSF second baseman Taylor Bryant worked a bases-loaded walk to bring in Jerrod Bravo. The Titans then went on to plate a pair of insurance runs in the sixth on a Josh Vargas RBI single and a UCSB error.
After that run-scoring error, freshman reliever Kyle Nelson entered the game for UCSB, going on to continue his dominant stretch of play. In an inning and a third, the southpaw struck out four of the six batters he faced while allowing just a single hit. He has now gone without allowing an earned run in his last 12 outings, a span which stretches 19 2/3 innings.
In the ninth, Eshelman made way for Tyler Peitzmeier, and the CSF closer notched his 13th save of the year with a scoreless ninth, surrendering just a two-out single to Cameron Newell.
Newell had a pair of base hits on the night, joining Wear and Fisher as the only Gauchos to record hits in the contest.
UCSB will look to even the pivotal series tomorrow night behind the left arm of Justin Jacome (7-2, 2.24 ERA) as he opposes Fullerton right-hander Justin Garza (4-3, 3.21). First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
