A deep pitching staff and seasoned core of position players have put the UCSB baseball team in position to make noise in the Big West Conference and beyond in 2024.
A disappointing finish to last season with a potential Big West Championship and NCAA Tournament bid erased by a dreadful showing in the final series of the regular season left a lasting impression on everyone involved with the program. Eight months later, the opportunity has finally arrived to turn pain into prosperity.
“I think everybody was pretty bitter and motivated. It left a bad taste in everybody’s mouth. You don’t get to play the next weekend, your season is over, and you have to sit on it for eight months before you play again,” said UCSB baseball head coach Andrew Checketts . “What did we learn from it? There’s lots of stuff. We talk about proactive leadership. I think the details got away from us a little bit last season in regards to baserunning and putting the ball in play. Some of those little things that I think traditionally we’ve been pretty good at.”