Gauchos get payback and take down #14 USC

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - Nate Vargas and Corey Nunez each slugged solo home runs as UCSB defeated #14 USC 5-1 in front of a sellout crowd.

Vargas was the hitting star as he was a triple shy of the cycle.

"It was awesome," Vargas said. "I'm just happy to be out there and compete with my guys. I'm glad that we were able to get a good win against a ranked team today. During my time off, I just used the time to make sure I'm staying ready so that when I did get an opportunity like today, I made the most of it.

Honestly, I think the oppo off the fence," Vargas said was his favorite at-bat of the night. "For me, that just felt like vintage me. That's what I do, and at the end of the day, I don't want to get too excited because I expect that of myself, but at the same time I want to kind of congratulate myself for putting in the work and seeing it pay off."

Last week UCSB lost at USC 7-6 so the Gauchos were able to split the season series with the home win.

Calvin Proskey pitched a scoreless first inning in his first action of 2026.

Proskey, AJ Krodel, Van Froling, Raymond Olivas and Cole Tryba — combined to allow just one unearned run.

(Proskey threw 16 pitches allowing one hit and striking out one. Entenza Design).

"The real highlight for today is Proskey being back and having an inning," UCSB head coach Andrew Checketts said. "Throwing a clean inning and looking like himself, healthy and stuff looked solid, so hopefully we can continue to extend him an inning each time he goes out or two innings and he can turn into a legitimate extra starter for us, whether that's on Tuesday or end of the weekend if we have to make a change, which I'm not anticipating, but it's a luxury to have that fourth starter.

That's what we talk about with the bullpen, is make sure you pass the baton and hold on to it. All the guys did their job, and I thought guys came in and did their job making clutch pitches with runners in scoring position and didn't allow the guy was out there before, his runs to come in. And then you know, Tryba being Tryba changes the game for us. To be able to give the ball to somebody with a lead at the end of the game and feel pretty comfortable that it's over, his last three outings have been like that. We've gotten him a lead, and it's been over."

(Cole Tryba closed out the game pitching 1.2 innings with 2 strikeouts. Entenza Design).

Vargas slugged a solo home run off the video board in right field to give UCSB a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Nick Husovsky knocked in the second run in the frame with a ground out to plate Ryan Severns.

In the fourth Nunez drilled a solo home run to left to put UCSB up 3-1.

(Noah Karliner greets Nunez at the plate after his blast over the left field fence. Entenza Design).

Rowan Kelly delivered a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning and Liam Barrett singled in Vargas in the eighth inning to finish up the scoring.

UCSB is now 20-10 on the season after beating their third ranked team on the season.

UCSB hosts Big West leading UC San Diego this weekend for three big games beginning Friday at 4:35 p.m.

(UCSB Athletics contributed to this article).