Gauchos shut out ‘Bows

It doesn’t take a math major to solve this problem.

The chances of winning a Big West baseball series scoring one run in three games is, well, zero.

Right-hander Shane Bieber finished off a masterful weekend by the UC Santa Barbara pitching staff scattering seven hits over nine innings of a 5-0 shutout of Hawaii on Sunday afternoon.

Bieber (6-3) was one of only four pitchers used the entire weekend by the eighth-ranked Gauchos (31-10, 8-4 Big West), who won their first conference series in three tries against the Rainbow Warriors (15-26, 6-9) in front of a Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 1,802.

UCSB’s three starters combined for two walks and 18 strikeouts in 24 innings and allowed the only run in a 1-0 loss on Saturday. Bieber surrendered singles by Kaeo Aliviado and Alex Sawelson to start off the ninth inning but preserved the shutout by getting pinch hitter Jordan Richartz to ground out to first.

"You have to feel fortunate that you win one game when you only score one run the entire series," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "Our pitching kept us in every game, but their pitching was better. Their pitching was better than advertised."

Cameron Newell went 3-for-4 with a run scored and Clay Fisher hit a two-run double in the fourth inning that bounced on the foul line in right field to put the Gauchos ahead 3-0.

UC Santa Barbara is one of five teams within three games of the Big West lead heading into the final month of the season.

To stay in contention, coach Andrew Checketts knew his team had to play better against a Hawaii team that had fared well against his club the past two years.

"They’ve spanked us," Checketts said after Friday’s win. "They came into our park last year and beat us around pretty good. I think all of our guys are well aware of how they’ve played against us and they’ve been a good team at home the last couple of weeks."

Hawaii is 6-3 at home in league games but 0-6 on the road, where it will finish the season playing nine of its final 12.

The ‘Bows pitched well against UCSB, holding the Gauchos to 10 runs in three games. The two teams combined for 11 runs and four extra-base hits in the entire series.

Senior Andrew Jones and junior Kyle Von Ruden combined to throw 52⁄3 shutout innings out of the bullpen, but the Gauchos hit starter Jarrett Arakawa hard.

Arakawa (2-3) was tagged for nine hits in 31⁄3 innings and all five runs. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out two.

"I honestly felt pretty good out there and thought I made some good pitches, but I tip my hat to them because they beat us all around and I’ve got to be better next week," Arakawa said.

Junior Matt LoCoco, playing for an injured Marcus Doi, hit a ground-rule double to right with two outs in the third.

His single in the fifth inning put runners on first and second with nobody out, giving the fans something to cheer about.

Bieber silenced them quickly, getting ahead 0-2 to each of the next three batters before putting them away.

"Anytime I get a chance to play I’m going to try to make the most of it," LoCoco said. "Working with my coaches I think my swing is getting a little better and I’m feeling more confident."

LoCoco started 11 of UH’s first 14 games but struggled at the plate, hitting .146, and was out of the lineup when Doi returned from a groin injury.

Playing mostly in late-inning situations as a defensive replacement since, he got the start Sunday.

Doi injured his wrist when he crashed into the fence in foul territory in left field making a catch on Saturday.

"I was really happy for LoCoco, who was seeing the ball well and put three good swings on," Trapasso said. "If he’s swinging like that, he’s a guy who can help us here because we still have a lot to play for. We’ve got a month to go and we’ve got to try to get to .500 or better in league, which would be a pretty good accomplishment."

UH leaves Thursday to play three games at Long Beach State, which at 22-17 overall and 8-7 in conference is still fighting for an at-large berth.

Hawaii will stay on the road the following week to play last-place UC Riverside before hosting its final home series against Cal State Fullerton.

The Titans are tied at 8-4 with the Gauchos, 11⁄2 games behind first-place UC Irvine.

NO. 7 UC SANTA BARBARA 5, HAWAII 0

E–Kitaoka. DP–Hawaii 2. LOB–UCSB 6, Hawaii 7. 2B–Nesovic, Fisher, LoCoco. HBP–O’Brien; Sheldon-Collins. SH–Maris. SB–Fisher.

WP–Arakawa. HBP–by Bieber (Sheldon-Collins), by Jones (O’Brien). Umpires–(Plate): Jake Uhlenhopp. (First): Stephen Fritzoni. (Third): Ramon Armendariz. T–2:28. A–1,802.

BIG WEST STANDINGS

*includes one tie for overall record

Sunday
UC Santa Barbara 5, Hawaii 0
Cal State Fullerton 7, UC Irvine 5
Long Beach State 12, Cal Poly 11, 10 inn
CSUN 10, UC Riverside 9
UC Davis 11, Pacific 5 (non-conference)

Tuesday (all non-conference)
UC Riverside at UNLV
Loyola Marymount at UC Santa Barbara
Cal Poly at CSU Bakersfield
UC Irvine at San Diego
CSUN at San Diego State
UC Davis at Santa Clara
CS Fullerton at USC
UCLA at Long Beach State