Dirtbags
fall to Gauchos in double header
By
Daniel Kim
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
UC Santa Barbara came to town this weekend to battle Long Beach State in a
three-game series at Blair Field.
The Gauchos won the first two games of the series, beating the Dirtbags 8-6
on Friday, and 4-1 Saturday afternoon.
In the opening game, Dirtbags pitcher Jared Hughes had a rough outing lasting
only 3 2/3 innings and giving up a career-high 10 hits and allowing six runs,
four of them earned.
Both teams started early. Alden Carrithers scored the Gaucho’s first
run in the opening inning. In the bottom of the inning Robert Perry scored
on a ground out to tie the score at one.
The Gauchos added two runs in the second. Brian Lee scored on a perfectly executed
suicide squeeze. Mario Lewis then scored on a sacrifice fly to right giving
the Gauchos a 3-1 lead.
Robbie Blauer started the top of the third with a base hit to centerfield.
Blauer scored on a liner up the middle by Shane Carlson. A bunt single loaded
the bases but Hughes got Lewis to ground into a double play to escape the jam.
The Gauchos added another run in the fourth with a double hit into the left
field gap by Blauer, scoring Carrithers from second. Matt Emerick followed
with a single into center that scored Blauer for a 6-1 lead. Matt Clark then
hit a single into right forcing the Dirtbags to take Hughes out of the game.
The Dirtbags chipped away at the Gaucho lead with a couple of runs in the bottom
of the fourth. Danny Espinosa walked with one out. Tito Cruz followed with
a single into left. Matt Cline then hit a liner into left field scoring Espinosa.
Cruz then scored from third when Cline got caught in a rundown to cut the Gaucho
lead to 6-3.
Chris McMurray scored a run on an RBI single into left by Chris Valaika in
the top of the fifth giving UCSB a 7-3 advantage.
LBSU added a run in the bottom of the sixth. The Dirtbags loaded the bases
with two outs. Espinosa earned an RBI the hard way when he was hit by a pitch,
bringing in a run and cutting the lead to 7-4. LBSU squandered a scoring opportunity
as it left the bases loaded at the bottom of the inning.
The Gauchos scored again in the eighth inning when Carlson singled up the middle
to score Blauer for an 8-4 lead.
The Dirtbags added a run in the bottom of the eighth.
Perry reached second on an error by second baseman Carrithers. Evan Longoria
lined a single into right to knock in Perry and close the gap 8-5.
Pinch hitter Edgar Sedano started the bottom of the ninth with a sinking line
drive that dropped in front of the center fielder for a single. Shane Peterson
followed with a chopper to right, advancing Sedano to third. With runners on
the corners and no outs, Espinosa grounded into a double play. Sedano scored
from third on the play to cut the deficit 8-6. Ted Pattock was summoned to
pinch hit but struck out looking, ending the game.
With the loss Hughes’ record fell to 7-3.
Fans at Blair Field witnessed a pitching duel in the second game between starting
pitchers Andrew Carpenter and UCSB's Jeff Braun Saturday afternoon.
LBSU got a strong performance out of Carpenter, who went 7 2/3 innings allowing
nine hits, one run and struke out seven.
Braun also had a solid outing pitching 6 2/3 innings allowing seven hits and
one earned run.
Perry singled to start the game. Perry advanced to second on a ground out.
Longoria lined a single into left field scoring Perry for an early 1-0 lead.
Carpenter pitched himself out of a jam in the bottom of the second. The Gauchos
loaded the bases with no outs. He struck out the next batter then got the leadoff
man Carrithers to ground into a double play.
Lee got aboard with a single in the fourth and advanced to third on a single.
A sacrifice fly to right field by McMurray allowed Lee to tie the score at
1.
In the bottom of the fourth, Longoria missed a homerun by a couple feet when
he hit a towering drive out of the park and onto Federation Drive for a long
foul ball. Longoria drove a pitch to deep center but it was caught on the warning
track.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Dirtbags loaded the bases with two outs.
With the fans at Blair Field chanting wildly, leadoff man Perry popped out
to center ending the Dirtbag’s best scoring opportunity since the first
inning.
With one out in the top of the ninth, the Gauchos strung together back to back
singles off of reliever Bryan Shaw. Carrithers, who was 0 for 4 in the game,
lined a double into right field to score Lewis and McMurray for a 3-1 lead.
The Gauchos added another run when Blauer knocked in Carrithers with a single.
The Dirtbags went quietly in the bottom of the ninth ending the game.
The Dirtbags record drops to 9-5 in conference play and 26-23 overall. Sunday’s
results were unavailable as of press time.
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