Gauchos go 3-0 at Tony Gwynn Legacy

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The No. 21 UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (6-1) completed a perfect Tony Gwynn Legacy weekend with a 6-3 win over California Baptist (4-4) on Sunday afternoon, a victory powered by three Gaucho home runs. Xavier Esquer left the yard first, then LeTrey McCollum hit his first career homer before Jack Holman mashed his fifth of the year. Calvin Proskey earned the win, with Chase Hoover pitching four innings of relief to nail down the result.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams loaded the bases in their half of the first inning, but neither scored. In the top of the first, Proskey started strong with a strikeout but then a single, walk and hit batter filled the bags with Lancers with just one out. The sophomore from Illinois did his best Houdini impression though, getting the second out with another K before inducing a groundout to first on the very next pitch to escape the jam.

In the bottom of the first, the Gauchos pounced on CBU starter Cody New, knocking three singles and earning a walk. However, some unfortunate sequencing kept them off the board, as Esquer's lead-off single was nullified by a double play, and a soft lineout to third base ended the frame with Gauchos stranded on every base.

Proskey was a bit more clinical in the top of the second, allowing just an infield single before setting down the next three Lancers in order, and the Santa Barbara offense was a bit more clinical in the bottom half of the frame. After Corey Nunez was hit by an 0-2 pitch, Esquer punished the mistake immediately, hammering a 400-foot first-pitch home run to left field, putting the Gauchos up 2-0.

Proskey delivered a shutdown, one-two-three inning in the top of the third, but CBU fought back in the fourth. A leadoff double and a passed ball put a Lancer on third, and a sacrifice fly made the score 2-1. A dropped third strike put another Lancer on base, but Santa Barbara catcher Ian Fernandez caught him stealing to clean things up. Proskey was back on form in the top of the fifth, allowing just one baserunner.

The Gaucho offense then stretched their advantage in the bottom of the fifth with another big swing. A Holman walk and Cole Kosciusko single put two men on for McCollum, who cracked the first pitch he saw out to left field for his first home run and a 5-1 Santa Barbara lead.

Proskey's day ended after a leadoff single in the CBU half of the six, with Hoover summoned to replace him. The lefty allowed a walk, sacrifice bunt, sacrifice fly and RBI double in what was a shaky first inning of work but ended the frame with a punchout and the Gauchos' lead still intact, just reduced to 5-3. Hoover then went on to set the side down in order in each of the final three innings en route to the save.

It may have helped that the Santa Barbara offense punched right back in the bottom half of the sixth. Jack Holman launched his fifth home run of the season out to right field to make the score 6-3, and McCollum continued his good day with a two-out double, though that would not come to anything.

Not that Santa Barbara would end up needing more runs. Hoover struck out the first Lancer he faced in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, finishing the day with five K's and a four-out save.

BY THE NUMBERS
There are long waits, and then there is the 134 games totaling 373 at-bats between McCollum's debut and first career home run, which he hit on his third trip to the plate on Sunday. He finished the historic day a triple shy of the cycle.
While McCollum had to wait a while for his first home run, he was not waiting around during the at-bat he hit it, doing so on the first pitch he saw. Esquer and Holman's home runs were also first-pitch shots.
On the mound, Hoover retired the final 10 Lancer batters on Sunday to complete his second straight impressive outing for his hometown Gauchos. Over seven innings of relief, the San Marcos High grad owns a 1.29 ERA with 10 strikeouts to just two walks.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will remain on the road on Tuesday, Feb. 25, traveling to Malibu for their 150th all-time meeting with Pepperdine. First pitch from Eddy D. Field Stadium is set for 2 p.m. on Tuesday; the game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with an audio broadcast available at ucsbgauchos.com/BSBRadio and live stats available at ucsbgauchos.com/BSBLiveStats.

(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics).