Jonah Sebring, UC Santa Barbara  Baseball Field Player of the Week  Redshirt Junior • Second Base • Valley Center, Calif.

• Jonah Sebring guided second-place reigning league champion UC Santa Barbara to a come-from-behind series victory at UC Riverside, earning a first Big West Field Player of the Week distinction.
• Sebring went 8-for-18 (.444) and slugged .889 with six runs, two doubles, two home runs, nine RBI, three walks and four stolen bases on four attempts during a 2-2 road week in Riverside. Sebring now leads The Big West with 14 steals on the year, on 18 tries.
• The Valley Center native’s week was highlighted by an 18-4 romp in the Sunday rubber game, as Sebring went 5-for-6 with game and season highs of four runs, two home runs, five RBI and three steals. Sebring opened the scoring with a two-out, two-run single in the first, and added long balls in back-to-back two-out at-bats late through a two-run blast in the seventh and a solo effort in the ninth.
• The first-year Gaucho who spent the 2022 season at Golden West College in Huntington Beach started all four contests at second base and handled 10 of 11 chances cleanly for a .909 fielding percentage.
• Having reached the 30-win mark Sunday at 30-14 overall, UCSB sits exactly two games back (15-6) of Cal State Fullerton (28-15, 17-4 Big West) with three weeks left in the regular season.
• Sebring is the Gauchos’ third Big West Field Player of the Week for 2023, following sluggers Jared Sundstrom on Feb. 27 and Broc Mortensen on April 24.

Also Nominated: Ali Camarillo (CSUN); Jack Gallagher (UC Davis); Matt Halbach (UC San Diego); Jack Hammond (Long Beach State); Caden Kendle (UC Irvine)

Nick Pinto, UC Irvine  Baseball Pitcher of the Week  Redshirt Junior • Left-Handed Pitcher • Coto de Caza, Calif.

• Veteran arm Nick Pinto led surging UC Irvine to a series-clinching 6-1 victory in Sunday’s rubber game at home against Hawai’i to garner a third career Big West Pitcher of the Week honor.
• Pinto was perfect for 5.2 innings, retiring the first 17 Rainbow Warrior batters (nine on strikes) before a two-out single in the sixth which preceded a three-pitch punch-out. The fourth-year junior southpaw went a season-long 7.2 frames and fanned a season-high 11, allowing one run on three singles without a walk. Pinto improved to 5-2 on the year.
• The native of Coto de Caza’s previous bests for 2023 were 5.1 innings and nine strikeouts. Pinto’s career highs are 8.2 frames and 12 strikeouts, both from 2021. The 2019 graduate of Tesoro High School has now reached double-digit punch-outs three times as an ‘Eater.
• Pinto also tossed 1.1 scoreless frames in Tuesday’s 12-3 home rout of UCLA, entering with the bases full and two outs in the fourth and getting an infield lineout to protect a 4-2 edge. The Bruins began the fifth with a double and hit-by-pitch before Pinto induced an infield popout and inning-ending double play.
• Sunday’s result gave UC Irvine 30 overall wins, now at 30-14. The ‘Eaters sit alone in fifth in the latest Big West standings at 12-9, with a competitive RPI of 50. UCI has won its last three conference sets, and is a perfect 8-0 in 2023 against Pac-12 opposition, with home-and-home sweeps over both UCLA and USC, as well as an impressive early-season three-game road sweep of Arizona State.
• Pinto’s first two Big West Pitcher of the Week awards both came during the 2021 season, on March 22 and then on May 24. Teammate Michael Stanford has been the only other Anteater hurler recognized this year, back on March 6.

Also Nominated: Thomas Bainton (CSUN); Steven Brooks (Cal Poly); Bryan Green (UC Davis); Izaak Martinez (UC San Diego); Reed Moring (UC Santa Barbara); Tyler Stultz (Cal State Fullerton); Nico Zeglin (Long Beach State)
 

2023 Big West Baseball Weekly Winners