The UC Santa Barbara baseball team dominated the Pepperdine University Waves on Tuesday May 5, 13-3 and triggered the NCAA 10-run mercy rule to end the game an inning early. The win was punctuated by a grand slam in the eighth inning from senior second-baseman William Vasseur. The Gauchos have now found themselves neck-and-neck for first place in the Big West Conference standings going into their final road series of the season.

Freshman pitcher Josh Jannicelli got the start for UCSB, allowing one hit and one earned run while striking out five batters in just over two innings of play time. The Gauchos’ pitching was tight all game, giving up only six hits and two earned runs in total. 

Basbeall celebrates after scoring a run. Courtesy of the Daily Nexus.

The Gauchos struck early after a double for sophomore center fielder Rowan Kelly and two walks loaded the bases for sophomore left fielder Liam Barrett, whose bases-clearing hit down the right-field line gave UCSB an early advantage. Barrett himself later scored to give the Gauchos a 4-0 lead entering the third inning. The left-fielder finished with two hits and two RBIs in three at-bats. 

The Gauchos had a scare in the form of an unearned run for the Wave’s graduate left-fielder Trey Dunn due to a dropped fly ball in the top of the sixth inning to bring the score to 5-3, Gauchos. Junior UCSB pitcher Cole Tryba entered in relief during the seventh inning and shut down the Wave the rest of the way. The Gauchos played four pitchers on Tuesday and once again showed why they have the No. 1 ranked pitching group in the conference.

The offensive avalanche was capped off by Vasseur’s first career grand slam after three consecutive walks loaded the bases for the second-baseman, who made it look easy to left field. He added two total runs and four RBIs to the Gauchos’ impressive performance from the hitting side. 

After traveling to the California State University, Northridge for their final road-trip, UCSB will host the California Baptist University on Monday, May 11. They look to continue their momentum and extend their hold over the Conference’s first place spot.