The UCSB baseball team fell to Pepperdine Tuesday afternoon with a score of 3-1. Pepperdine junior starting pitcher Matt Maurer improved to 1-1 on the year while the Gauchos freshman pitcher Hector Lujan fell to 0-1 in his first start this season.

With the win, the Waves improve to 16-11 on the year while the Gauchos fall to 14-13 as they continue to sit in the middle of the pack in the Big West Conference at 1-2 in league play.

The trouble began right away in the first inning when freshman second baseman Hutton Moyer led off the game with a double into right center on the first pitch of the game. The trouble continued and led to the first run of the game when sophomore third baseman Austin Davidson reached base on a fielding error by the Gauchos Woody Woodward and Moyer scored.

Lujon escaped the inning without allowing another run but was then touched up again in the second inning for the second run of the game when junior left fielder Chris Amezquita led off with a home run into deep left field.

The Gauchos retaliated for their first and only run in the bottom of the third. With one out, sophomore center fielder Cameron Newell doubled into left center field then proceeded to steal third base. Newell then came around to score on a ground out by freshman third baseman Ryan Clark.

Freshman designated hitter David Oppenheim ended the Gauchos comeback hopes by doubling and scoring on a junior center fielder Ranny Lowe single in the top of the fourth. From that point on the bullpens for the Gauchos and Waves quieted the bats from the fourth inning on to the final score of 3-1.

After the four-game weekend, the short staffed Gauchos used Lujan for just four innings as he allowed two earned runs before dipping into the bullpen for five scoreless innings.

Pepperdine‘s Maurer pitched a gem, allowing just one run through seven innings of work, although he struck out just one batter.

Junior pitcher Michael Swanner pitched a perfect ninth inning to close out the game and record his seventh save of the season for Pepperdine.

Coming up next for the Gauchos after some much needed rest will be a three-game weekend home series against their rivals from Cal Poly. The Mustangs will come down for a Friday 3 p.m. game, Saturday 2 p.m. game and a Sunday early afternoon showdown at 1p.m. at Caesar Uyesaka stadium.

 

A version of this article appeared on page 10 of April 3rd, 2013’s print edition of the Nexus
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