UCSB’s younger baseball players will soon head out to summer league assignments stretching from Alaska to Cape Cod, but its two most decorated rookies won’t be among them.
“Rodney Boone and Michael McGreevy have already pitched enough innings,” Gaucho coach Andrew Checketts said. “We’re shutting them down for the summer.”
Both were named to their second Freshman All-America team in as many weeks, making the Perfect Game honor squad. They were also chosen as Freshman All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball.
Boone, the Big West Conference Freshman Pitcher of the Year, was tabbed to Perfect Game’s Freshman All-America First Team. The rookie left-hander posted a win-loss record of 8-0 in 14 starts with an earned run average of 2.78 with 80 strikeouts in 81 innings. Opponents batted just .204 against Boone, who was also voted to the All-Big West Second Team.
McGreevy made Perfect Game’s Freshman All-America Second Team. The right-handed reliever made a team-high 29 appearances and pitched 60 1/3 innings, posting a record of 5-1 with six saves and an ERA of 1.94. He struck out 53 batters and allowed a batting average of just .234, making the All-Big West First Team.
MEN’S SOCCER
UCSB ALUMNUS CHOSEN
Former UCSB goalkeeper Justin Vom Steeg has been summoned to the United States Under-23 men’s national team training camp, announced by the U.S. Soccer Federation this week.
He was also called up last month to the U.S. National Team’s 21-player combined preparation camp roster which took place from May 26-June 2. It served as a tune-up for players named to the Gold Cup and U-23 rosters.
“It’s a great step forward for him to get to play with full national team players,” said Tim Vom Steeg, his father and former coach at UCSB. “This also sets him up well for playing in Olympic qualifiers.
“It’s a great learning experience, especially for a young goalkeeper.”
Justin Vom Steeg, who is now a member of the LA Galaxy organization, played at UCSB in 2015, starting 20 games and allowing just 25 goals. He finished with a 13-5-1 record, making 63 saves while recording six shutouts.
He is one of fifteen Major League Soccer-based players in coach Jason Kreis’ squad. The camp is currently taking place in Herriman, Utah.
UCSB TO PLAY STANFORD
UCSB has released its men’s soccer schedule for next fall which includes six opponents that qualified for last year’s NCAA Tournament including Stanford, which has won three of the last four NCAA championships. The Gauchos’ non-conference opponents had a combined record of 95-70-28 last year.
They will kick off their exhibition season with the 57th Annual Bryant and Sons Cup against Westmont on Sat., Aug. 17, and then play another exhibition at Loyola Marymount on Aug. 24.
UCSB will open its regular season at Harder Stadium against UNLV on Fri., Aug. 30.
Virginia Tech, which advanced to last year’s NCAA Sweet 16, will visit UCSB for a game on Sun., Sept. 1. Cal will follow it into Harder Stadium for a game on Sept. 7.
The first road trip of the season will take the Gauchos to Gonzaga (Sept. 12) and Oregon State (Sept. 15).
UCSB will then return home to face Seattle (Sept. 19), UMBC (Sept. 22) and Stanford (Sept. 28), which has won three of the last four NCAA Championships.
Matches against Pacific (Sept. 25) and San Diego (Oct. 1) will round out the Gauchos’ non-conference road schedule. They will then play a designated non-league game against arch-rival Cal Poly on Oct. 5.
UCSB will play host to three games during the conference schedule, welcoming Sacramento State (Oct. 9), UC Riverside (Oct. 16) and UC Irvine (Oct. 19).
League road matches will be at Cal State Fullerton (Oct. 12), UC Davis (Oct. 23), CSUN (Oct. 26) and Cal Poly (Nov. 1).
WOMEN’S SOCCER
UCSB RELEASES SCHEDULE
The Gaucho women’s soccer team will also play Stanford at Harder Stadium, with other non-conference matches scheduled against Cal and Minnesota.
“This might be the best home schedule we’ve had in my time at UCSB,” said Paul Stumpf, who will be entering his 21st season as the program’s head coach. “Stanford coming to our place is huge. They were in the College Cup last year and are going to be very good again.
“To also get another Pac 12 team and a Big Ten team, that’s also big for us and our fans.”
The Cardinal will visit UCSB for a 1 p.m. match on Sunday, Sept. 15. Stanford went 21-1-2 last year and was ranked No. 1 in the nation for much of the season, going unbeaten until a 2-0 loss to Florida State in the College Cup semifinals.
UCSB will play a rematch of one of its biggest wins of last season when it plays hosts to Cal at 5 p.m. on on Fri., Aug. 30. The Gauchos will open the regular season home schedule on Thu., Aug. 22 against Big Ten member Minnesota. The Golden Gophers advanced to the second round of last year’s NCAA Tournament.
Their other non-conference home matches will be against San Jose State (Aug. 25), Grand Canyon (Sept. 13) and Fresno State (Sept. 20).
UCSB will begin Big West play at home on Sun., Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. against defending league champion Long Beach State. The 49ers beat the Gauchos in last year’s Big West Tournament final.
The Blue-Green rivalry game against Cal Poly is set for Sun., Oct. 20 at 1 p.m. The Gauchos will complete their home schedule againhst UC Riverside (Nov. 1) and UC Irvine (Nov. 3).
UCSB will return several key players including leading scorer Shaelan Murison (10 goals, four assists), from a team that went 13-7-1 overall and 5-2-1 in the Big West .
Season ticket packages for both the men’s and women’s teams will go on sale on Jun. 17 and are available online at UCSBGauchos.com or by calling the UCSB ticket office at 805-893-UCSB.
