Canuck Bremner sets Santa Barbara career strikeout mark
Right-hander Tyler Bremner, whose parents are from Mississauga and Queensville, Ont., set a new UC Santa Barbara record on Friday night when he recorded his 275th career strikeout. Photo: UC Santa Barbera Athletics
May 10, 2025
Bremner Sets New Career Strikeouts Record in Win over LMU
LOS ANGELES — Tyler Bremner set a new UC Santa Barbara record on Friday night, racking up his 275th career strikeout and going on to issue 10 strikeouts as the Gauchos (32-16) routed Loyola Marymount (24-25), 12-1, in the opening game of a three-game series.
The offence put up big numbers in the third and eighth innings, with Nate Vargas, Jonathan Mendez, Rowan Kelly and Liam Barrett all tallying multiple RBIs on the night.
FROM HEAD COACH ANDREW CHECKETTS
“(Bremner is) in the strike zone a lot,” Checketts said in a mid-game interview. “You look at his walk totals and his strikeout-to-walk ratio is really good, one of the better ones in the country. He’s in the zone, and when you’re in the zone a lot, you get to two strikes more and you get more strikeouts. I always tell my guys, I haven’t seen anybody in my career yet strike out with less than two strikes. You’ve got to get there first. He’s doing a good job of getting ahead tonight.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
“In the zone” may have been an understatement of Bremner’s start to Friday’s game. The righty was perfect through five innings and faced the minimum through six with the help of a double play. Through those opening six frames, the Lions managed to put just eight balls in play against Bremner, who is a Canadian citizen, while the junior racked up double-digit punch outs. His first of the night came to end the first inning, then he started the second inning with two more. That third strikeout of the night put him alone atop UC Santa Barbara’s career strikeout leaderboard, surpassing the 274 that Dan Yokubaitis collected between 1983 and 1986. He went on to strike out the side in the third and again in the fifth before allowing his one and only hit to begin the sixth. Another strikeout and a double play got him out of the frame having still faced the minimum.
While Bremner was racking up strikeouts, the Gaucho offense was racking up runs. A two-out rally in the second got Santa Barbara on the board, with Mendez reaching on a fielder’s choice, Xavier Esquer walking and then Barrett driving Mendez home with a single through the right side of the LMU infield.
The Gauchos then turned their lead into a comfortable cushion with a four-run third. Jack Holman hit a one-out double down the right field line and took third on a balk, then Isaac Kim hit a flop shot of a double into the magic spot in left field where no Lion could reach it, scoring Holman from third. Vargas kept the double trouble going, finding the gap in right center to score Kim, then Mendez conquered the Blue Monster in left field, clearing the 37-foot-tall wall to make it 5-0 Santa Barbara.
LMU got one of those runs back in the seventh, with a one-out walk coming around to score after Donovann Jackson relieved Bremner. However, the Gaucho offense kicked into gear again and made their lead bigger than ever before in the top of the eighth. Back-to-back singles and a walk loaded the bases, then Vargas earned another RBI the hard way, being hit by a pitch to force home a run. Mendez followed that up with a five-pitch walk to force home another run, then Kelly drove in a pair with a single into right field. Barrett’s sacrifice fly to center gave Santa Barbara their fifth run of the inning and 10th of the game.