SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — No. 16 UC Santa Barbara hung onto its ranking and a fourth victory, 5-4, on Monday afternoon over BYU baseball.

The Gauchos (4-0) retained their No. 16 ranking for the second week by Collegiate Baseball magazine, but got a scare in the final game against BYU (0-4).

The Cougars were trailing 5-2 before hanging a pair of runs against four Gaucho pitchers in the seventh inning and stranding the bases loaded.

“Overall, we played a very solid nine innings today and I was very encouraged by our intensity and energy,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “Santa Barbara is a quality team and we are a better team after playing them.”

Trailing 2-0, freshman Colton Shaver scored BYU’s first run when sophomore Brennon Lund chopped a two-out single over the mound in the fifth. A pair of errors enabled Cougar junior Hayden Nielsen to score a second run in the sixth frame, countering the three runs UCSB posted in its previous at bat.

BYU scored Bronson Larsen and Shaver again in the seventh, thanks to an opposite field single by Nielsen, but UCSB got a check-swing strikeout with the bases loaded to end the threat.

Other Cougar highlights were a 4-6-3 double play that got Cougar reliever Brandon Kinser out of a jam in the bottom of seventh. BYU reliever Michael Rucker struck out the final batter in the eight to retire the Gauchos in order for the first time in the game.

“We continue to give up free bases here and there throughout games and every time it comes back to hurt us,” Littlewood said.

The Cougars have a short week as they fly out again, this time to Arizona where they host Nebraska in a four-game series which starts Thursday in Peoria.

No. 16 (Collegiate Baseball) UC Santa Barbara hosts BYU baseball in a four-game series starting Friday ( Feb. 13) for the season opener.

The Gauchos (34-17-1 in 2014), picked to win the Big West Conference, are the first of two ranked teams BYU (22-31 in 2014 ) plays in consecutive order, followed by No. 23 (Perfect Game) Nebraska the following week in Arizona.

“They have great pitching, a number of excellent returning position players and will be a great challenge for us,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “I believe they were the most athletic team we saw last year (UCSB won 9-5).”
 
However, Littlewood says his team will be up to the challenge.
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“We feel very prepared simply because of the good weather allowing us to practice outside all winter, “Littlewood said. “It has been ​nice not seeing four walls and a ceiling all winter. Being outside has enabled us to work on our offensive game and more team defense which we can’t do fully in the IPF (Indoor Practice Facility). Practicing outside also levels the playing field just a bit with teams that are able to be outside year-round."
 
While there are technically only a couple new players in the probable Cougar lineup, BYU fields an experienced, talented squad.
 
“I'm not sure the so-called experts know our personnel and I believe we could sneak up on some people,” Littlewood said, as preseason polls have BYU picked seventh in the West Coast Conference.
 
Freshmen Brian Hsu and Colton Shaver, returned missionaries Tanner Chauncey and Cole Wilstead, juco transfer pitchers Brady Corless and Austin Kamel are the newcomers that are most likely to see playing time in the season-opening series.  
 
Hsu is in a nice battle with senior Parker Starr at third base. Shaver could see playing time at multiple positions, with Wilstead seeing time at DH or first base. Chauncey, who was drafted in the 35th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers last year while he was still serving in Brazil, was BYU’s leading hitter in 2012. Righty Corless is the probable Cougar starter in game four on Monday at 1 p.m.
 
Starting for the Cougars on the mound in Friday’s opener at 2 p.m., will be junior Kolton Mahoney (6-6, 3.97), who was drafted in the 23rd round by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2014. Starting in Saturday’s doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m., will be sophomore lefty Hayden Rogers (2-4, 2.93) and senior Jeff Barker (6-5, 3.80).
 
“I expect this team to pitch it well, play good defense and execute offensively,” Littlewood said. “We are ready to play.”

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