McCollum completes cycle with walk-off home run

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - LeTrey McCollum etched his name into UC Santa Barbara Baseball legend on Sunday afternoon, hitting a walk-off home run to complete the first cycle by a Gaucho since Michael Young's in 1997. McCollum's two-run no-doubter to left gave No. 16 Santa Barbara (13-2, 3-0 Big West) a 10-9 victory over CSUN (2-10, 0-3 Big West), completing a three-game sweep of the Matadors.

FROM HEAD COACH ANDREW CHECKETTS
"The offense carried us, did a really good job," Checketts said. "We weren't sharp out of the bullpen, part of that you've got to attribute to CSUN and how good they were, how tough they were, and how tough they were with two strikes. We had a hard time finishing them all day, and they did a good job continuing to play and put pressure on us. But Trey (McCollum), four-for-four with the cycle, every time CSUN did something, it seemed like he was up the next inning and was able to respond. Really cool, happy for him, and nice to see him get going. That's how he's played for us in the fall, and he got off to a slow start, but it's nice to see him start heating up."

HOW IT HAPPENED
For the first time all weekend, the Gauchos were in the driver's seat to start the game, racing out to a 7-0 lead in four innings. Calvin Proskey faced the minimum on the mound to start the game for Santa Barbara, with a strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out double play erasing a lead-off baserunner. The next time Proskey took the mound, he had a lead.

Xavier Esquer walked and stole second to start the bottom of the first, then Jack Holman drove him in with a one-out single to put the Gauchos up, 1-0. Proskey delivered a shut-down inning in the top of the second, striking out another Matador in a one-two-three frame, and he picked up two more K's in the third, stranding a two-out single.

In the bottom of the third, Jonathan Mendez doubled and Issac Kim drove him home with a two-run blast to left field to make it 3-0 Gauchos, and Proskey kept the Matador bats cold with another perfect frame in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, the Santa Barbara offense kept right on rolling, with McCollum doubling to get the party started. He moved over to third on a groundout but was tagged out at home trying to score on another grounder. Still, the Gauchos strung together a two-out rally, with Mendez getting aboard by wearing a pitch and Holman walking to load the bases. Kim pulled a two-RBI base hit down the left field line to make it 5-0, then Nate Vargas doubled to right center to score two more runs, making it 7-0 Santa Barbara.

Having scrapped all weekend, the Matadors were still in no mood to roll over, even after their head coach was ejected, and CSUN scratched across three runs in the top of the fifth thanks to a single, two doubles and another single. The Gauchos did get one of those runs back immediately in the bottom of the fifth, with McCollum reaching on a one-out single, then stealing second and third before scoring on Esquer's single up the middle.

Proskey returned to the mound and to form in the top of the sixth, setting the Matadors down in order in his final inning of work. Nic Peterson took over in the top of the seventh and had to work around some trouble after giving up back-to-back singles to start the frame. The lefty got a soft lineout to first, an even softer pop-up to second and a strikeout to end the threat and keep the score at 8-3, Gauchos.

It did not stay that way in the eighth. Peterson hit the first batter he faced, and that ended his day, with Van Froling replacing him. Froling immediately took a comebacker off his leg, resulting in an infield single, then a grounder to third was hit too slowly for the Gauchos to turn two. Froling then walked the next batter to load the bases with one out. An error then cost Santa Barbara, with two runs scoring on the play while the batter reached safely. The next Matador up homered to tie the game at 8-8. A single up the middle ended Froling's day, with Donvann Jackson on in relief. The baserunner he inherited stole second and came around to score on a two-out single, but Jackson ended the inning with a nice pick-off move to catch the Matadors stealing.

Despite a two-out double in the bottom of the eighth, the Gauchos were not able to do anything about their 9-8 deficit in the frame, and Jackson had more trouble to work around in the top of the ninth, with a single and another error putting two runners on with one out. But a double play got the Gauchos out of the inning.

Jeremiah Crain, who had committed the error in the top of the ninth, immediately made up for it by cracking a lead-off double into the left center field gap to start the bottom of the ninth, then McCollum turned around the first pitch he saw for just his second career home run, a towering shot to left field that was clearly gone from the moment it left the bat, to walk the game off, 10-9.

BY THE NUMBERS
In becoming the first Gaucho to hit for the cycle in 28 years, LeTrey McCollum finished the game 4-for-4 at the plate while also reaching via a hit by pitch. While he only racked up two RBIs on the day, they were the decisive ones. He also stole two bases.
Isaac Kim continued his phenomenal weekend on Sunday as well, finishing 2-for-5 at the plate with four RBIs, each of his hits driving in two runs. His two-run home run was his third as a Gaucho and the 40th of his NCAA baseball career, having hit 37 at Division III Pomona-Pitzer.
Donovann Jackson recorded his third win as a Gaucho out of the bullpen on Sunday, allowing just two hits in 1 2/3 innings of relief. It was his third outing of the week, with the lefty collecting two victories and six strikeouts in 6 2/3 shutout innings. He now has a 0.92 ERA in 19 2/3 innings over six outings on the season.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos stay in Santa Barbara for a mid-week meeting with the University of San Diego on Tuesday, March 11 at 4:05 p.m. from Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. The Gauchos knocked the Toreros out of last June's Santa Barbara Regional, 4-2. Season and single-game tickets are on sale now at ucsbgauchos.com, and kids in sixth grade or below get in free to all Gaucho home games this season with the Yardi Youth Pass. Visit ucsbgauchos.com to learn more. For fans following from afar, the game will be live on ESPN+ with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.

(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics).