Stand-in drops ‘Eaters to fifth

IRVINE — UC Santa Barbara senior Michael Martin waited six seasons to produce the best pitching performance of his career. Now, he hopes it wasn’t his last.

Martin, who missed two seasons due to arm injuries, including one that required Tommy John elbow surgery, got a surprise starting assignment Friday night against UC Irvine and junior All-American Scott Gorgen.

Filling in for sophomore ace Mike Ford, who had posted back-to-back complete-game victories but was sidelined by the flu, Martin responded by coming within an out of his first complete game this season, leading the Gauchos to a 6-2 Big West Conference triumph in front of 472 rain-soaked spectators at Anteater Ballpark.

The loss dropped the No. 14-ranked Anteaters (36-16, 12-10 in conference) into a fifth-place tie with UC Davis with two regular-season games left.

UCI is two games behind UCSB (35-19, 14-8) and also trails Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State, whose three-game series opener went late into Friday night due to a rain delay.

UCI Coach Mike Gillespie had been warning his players all week that three straight losses to the Gauchos could leave the Anteaters out of the 64-team NCAA field.

“If they were not clear we were playing a good club, if there was any doubt, it should be clear we’re playing a good club,� said Gillespie, who has stern words for his players after the loss.

“And, I think our guys should realize, [the Gauchos] won the Friday night game with their fourth starter [Martin usually starts mid-week games]. I think Santa Barbara should be feeling pretty good about things right now. I think they smell blood in the water.�

UCSB Coach Bob Brontsema said it was too soon to smell anything but an overwhelming feeling that his team could be shut out of the postseason, unless it continues to win and win impressively.

UCSB entered with a Ratings Performance Index of 61, while UCI’s was 22. That figure, designed to measure strength of schedule, is typically factored heavily into which teams are granted postseason berths.

“I know they’re looking for a reason not to take us,� said Brontsema, whose school has reached the postseason twice since 1991. “I think we’re deserving, I think Davis is deserving and I think UCI is deserving. I also think those other two schools [Fullerton and Long Beach] are pretty deserving as well. But they’re looking to only take three from our conference.�

UCI may now have to win today and Sunday to justify being the third team chosen, behind Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State.

UCI had hoped to ride Gorgen, in potentially his final start at home. The ’Eaters did just that through six innings, as a third-inning solo home run by Dillon Bell created a 1-0 advantage.

But Bell failed to come up with a hard-hit ball to left that was ruled a leadoff double in the seventh by Shane Carlson. One out later, Carlson scored from third on Gunnar Terhune’s sharp single through the drawn-in infield, before junior catcher Chris McMurray popped a two-run homer just over the left-center-field wall to put the Gauchos up, 3-1.

UCSB, with the help of three UCI errors, added three runs in the final two innings and junior closer Jason Roenicke struck out Tyler Hoechlin with the bases loaded to save Martin’s sixth win in 10 decisions.

“This was the best outing of my career,� said Martin, who threw six shutout relief innings in a sweep-clinching win over UC Riverside Sunday. “When our pitching coach told me [Thursday] I was going to start, I thought he was messing with me.

“This was a big win for us.�

It was the fifth straight win for UCSB, which produced just five hits and three runs off Gorgen in seven innings. Gorgen took the loss to fall to 10-3.

Ben Orloff, Brock Bardeen and Jeff Cusick, who entered the game in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter, each had two hits for the Anteaters. Cusick’s second single drove in a run in the ninth.

The series continues today at 5 p.m.

Big West Conference

UC Santa Barbara 6, UC Irvine 2

SCORE BY INNINGS

Martin, Roenicke (9) and McMurray; Gorgen, Slaught (8) and Lowenstein, Larson (9). W – Martin, 6-3. L – Gorgen, 10-3. Sv – Roenicke (3). 2B – Carlson (UCSB). 3B – Carlson (UCSB). HR – Bell (UCI), McMurray (UCSB).

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].