April 5, 2008
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - Trailing 3-2 entering the bottom of the ninth, the Pacific baseball team turned the tables on the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos with two runs in the final frame to snag a 4-3 win.
The victory was the Tigers first Big West Conference tally of the season as Pacific moved to 6-21 overall and 1-4 in Big West play. UC Santa Barbara, meanwhile, fell to 20-9 on the season and 4-1 in conference.
Trailing 3-2 with in the bottom of the ninth inning, pinch hitter Brian Martin (Livermore, Calif.) got the Tigers off to a great start with a single through the left side. Following a sacrifice bunt from senior John Joines (Milpitas, Calif.), freshman J.B. Brown (Alvin, Texas) chased home pinch runner, junior Jonathan Lewis (San Lorenzo, Calif.), on a single into left field.
Tied at 3-3, Brown forced a error at second base with an attempted steal to move into scoring position, then junior Joe Oliveira (San Diego, Calif.) smacked a double down the left field line to lift the Tigers to a 4-3 win.
Pacific reliever Cole Akins (Seattle, Wash.) earned his first victory of the season (1-4) as the senior tossed 1.2 innings of scoreless ball.
UC Santa Barbara's Michael Martin took the loss (3-1) allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk in 1.1 innings.
Pacific fell behind early in the game following a two-run home run from UC Santa Barbara's Mike Zuanich in the top of the first inning. The Tigers answered with a run in their first at-bat. Oliveira reached second on a throwing error by Gaucho third baseman Patrick Rose to start the inning. Senior Adam Ching (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) plated Oliveira on a double into center field to make it 2-1.
UC Santa Barbara got the run back in top of the second as Chris McMurray doubled down the left field line, then Steve Cook drove a two-out single through the left side to make it 3-1 in favor of the Gauchos.
Pacific answered in the bottom of the second on a single from senior Noah St. Urbain (Stockton, Calif.) and an RBI double from Brown to set up the climactic ninth inning.
The Tigers and Gauchos play the rubber game of their three-game series on Sunday, Apr. 6 at 1 p.m.
