In a pitcher’s duel paced off at 60 feet, 6 inches, the 15th-ranked UC Santa Barbara baseball team drew first to defeat Hawaii 2-1 in Friday night’s opener of a three-game Big West series at Les Murakami Stadium.
A crowd of 2,381 saw preseason All-American Tyler Bremner and Donovann Jackson combine on a four-hitter and quell the Rainbow Warriors’ aggressive running game.
“I thought they threw the ball well,” UCSB coach Andrew Checketts said. “We’re in character, and they did a good job. Obviously, this is a tough place to play. Great fan base, and they bring a ton of energy. Our guys handled it well. Showed a lot of poise.”
For the most part, the ’Bows matched the Gauchos pitch for pitch. Itsuki Takemoto moved into the series-opening start to alleviate wear-and-tear on the hip flexor of Sebastian Gonzalez, the usual Friday starter. In his strongest outing of the season, Takemoto struck out three in the first inning, and then coasted through the next two scoreless frames.
The Gauchos took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning when left-swinging Jack Holman pulled a drive into the right-field corner for a double, advanced to third on Jonathan Mendes’ deep flyout, and scored on Isaac Kim’s sacrifice fly to center field.
The ’Bows tied it at 1-all in the fifth when Kamana Nahaku ripped a Bremner pitch over the fence in left field. Nahaku’s first homer came on his 55th at-bat of his two-season, 47-game UH career.
In the UCSB sixth, Cole Kosciusko hit a drive over Nahaku’s reach in left field for a double. Xavier Esquer was hit by a Takemoto pitch. Esquer went to third on Holman’s fielder’s choice. One out later, Kim drove a Takemoto pitch into center field to bring home Kosciusko with the tie-breaking run.
Takemoto exited with this pitching line: 5 2/3 innings, four hits, two runs, no walks and six strikeouts. Gonzalez pitched the final 31⁄3 scoreless innings.
“That’s nine strikeouts, no walks,” UH coach Rich Hill said. “I can’t say enough about Itsuki and Sebestian. They did exactly what we’re supposed to do. We just went for it on a Friday night.”
But while the ’Bows’ pitching was good, it was not good enough to top the Gauchos’. Bremner relied on a fastball estimated to touch 98 mph and solid defense to limit the ’Bows to just Nahaku’s solo home run in six innings. Bremner, the ace of Team USA last summer, entered issuing three walks in 18 1/3 innings. He walked three ’Bows, but offset that with eight strikeouts.
“Mainly the changeup,” Bremner said of his out pitch. “I was going to it a lot. I had everything working early. The main goal was to throw everything hard, throw it with intent, throw it in the zone and let them beat me. I’m not going to beat myself and walk guys out there. I had a good day and it paid off.”
The Gauchos turned two double plays and made several athletic defensive plays. Holman made an over-the-shoulder catch on Nahaku’s blooper down the first-base line. Sprinting from shortstop, Esquer made a grab of a flyball caught in Murakami’s swirling wind.
And Bremner and Jackson each picked off UH’s Matt Miura. Both pickoffs came after numerous throws to first.
“Checks is really good at controlling the runners,” Bremner said of Checketts, who doubles as the pitching coach. “That’s a big thing. We’re going to pick a lot. We’re not just going to let you run in our face. I think Checks kind of plays into the crowd’s boos a little bit, too. He likes doing the pickoffs a lot. I don’t mind it. In the end I got the guy out. It paid off.”
In the ninth, the ’Bows placed runners on first and second with two outs. Jackson, who had made nine pickoff attempts in the inning, induced Xaige Lancaster to fly out out to center to end the game.
“You’re trying to keep them close and make sure the double play is always in order,” Jackson said of the throws to first. “I feel we did that really well. … I cannot say enough about my defense. They’re always picking me up. Whenever I get in trouble, they get me out.”
Hill said: “Four elite college pitchers. Fans were treated to a great traditional game of good pitching and defense and they came out on top. … Just a well-played game on both sides. They just swung the bat a little bit better. They deserved to win.”
