NCAA Baseball Tournament – Santa Barbara Regional
NCAA BASEBALL TOURNAMENT – SANTA BARBARA REGIONAL — Welcome to the wild card of the regionals. Maybe Texas A&M has a lot of good friends on the committee, because the Aggies are opposite the winner of the most wide-open regional in the field. Cal-Santa Barbara is one of just two mid-majors hosting, and it hosts a regional that features just one power conference foe.
However, the Gauchos are here for a reason, and it’s because they can really pitch. UCSB came through a solid Big West that produced multiple tournament teams, and the Gauchos rank sixth nationally in ERA. Only Arkansas, Tennessee and East Carolina had a better ERA among tournament teams.
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This regional is more for the purists among us. If you liked seeing pitching artistry and run manufacturing, this is your region. None of these teams really has much pop in their bats, as none hit more than Oregon’s 90 home runs. But there are multiple strong pitchers here, and it’s easy to see any of these teams springing a surprise.
Players to Watch
The best power hitter in the regional is Jakob Christian from San Diego, and it’s not that close of a contest. Christian is the only player in Santa Barbara to hit more than 20 home runs, and he and Jack Costello serve as the main run producers for the Toreros. San Diego averages a healthy 7.66 runs per game, but it’s not going to score a ton at a time.
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Neither will UCSB, who prefers to get men on base and bring them around the small-ball way. Aaron Parker led the Gauchos with a .374 batting average, and he’s one of three players hitting better than .350. UCSB’s arms are so good that it’s likely to just take hits as they come. As long as they get a couple, they’ll likely find that enough to win.
The Favorite
Most teams don’t have this many options on the hill. Ryan Gallagher, Tyler Bremner and Mike Gutierrez give UCSB enough options that it could win without a bullpen game. All are proven starters and all kept their ERA under 3.25 while recording at least 80 strikeouts. The entire staff pitches at a robust 3.94 ERA, and the Gauchos were a perfect 25-0 at home this year.
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The concern is whether the Gauchos hold up against quality opponents. Life in the Big West means that you don’t get to play a loaded schedule, especially when the Pac-12 is down. The Gauchos did win a series with Oregon, but the only ranked team they saw all year was UC Irvine. They lost two out of three in that series, and upping the difficulty could become a problem.
Potential Surprise
San Diego has to be the choice here. Oregon lacks the pitching to be dangerous, and Fresno State isn’t strong enough in either area. The Ducks do have two power hitters in Jacob Walsh and Mason Neville, but the pitching leaves a lot to be desired.
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San Diego, on the other hand, has an ace in Josh Randall and a solid bullpen behind him. The Toreros might have to go into the bullpen a bit, but a 4.15 team ERA is nothing to sneeze at here. San Diego can get outs, records a high number of strikeouts and keeps the ball in the park.
UCSB’s arms should get the Gauchos to the regional final, but the Toreros have more power. That should make the difference.
