Rally falls short as UCSB drops 3rd straight Big West series in baseball

LONG BEACH, Calif. - Liam Barrett announced his arrival on the college stage and nearly brought the UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (17-9, 5-7 Big West) all the way back on Sunday afternoon, hitting a home run and an RBI double for the Gauchos. It was almost enough, as he represented the tying run after his ninth-inning two-bagger, but Santa Barbara could not complete the rally and fell, 5-4, to Long Beach State (10-16, 4-8 Big West).

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos were in a hole early, as the Dirtbags scored in the bottom of the first after two walks, a sacrifice bunt and an RBI groundout. The hosts added two more runs in the bottom of the second, with three straight singles then a bases-loaded hit batter and a sacrifice fly. They made it 5-0 in the third with a lead-off homer, a triple just past the glove of a diving Gaucho outfielder, and another sacrifice fly.

The triple was hit by the first batter Jackson Flora faced out of the bullpen, and one of only three hits that the flamethrowing righty allowed all day, the sophomore effectively shutting down the Dirtbag offense for the rest of the game. He worked around a single and an error to put up a zero in the fourth, then worked Santa Barbara's first one-two-three inning in the fifth.

That perfect frame in the fifth was key for the Gauchos, as they had managed to grab some momentum in the top half of that inning, thanks to Barrett. The freshman got every stitch of his first collegiate hit, crushing a home run off the scoreboard in right field.

Flora worked around some more traffic in the bottom of the sixth, stranding runners on second and third with two outs to keep Long Beach at five. He then worked another one-two-three inning in the seventh, punctuating that inning with a strikeout. That punchout may have given the Gaucho offense a jolt, as they put up a crooked number in the top of the eighth to start a rally in earnest.

Xavier Esquer singled up the middle on the second pitch he saw from the Dirtbags' reliever, then LeTrey McCollum smacked a full-count pitch just fair down the right field line and into the corner for an RBI triple. Jonathan Mendez's sacrifice fly allowed McCollum to score and put the Gauchos within two runs, down just 5-3.

Flora made quick work of Long Beach in the bottom of the eighth to get his offense back out on the field, and they looked just as hot to start the ninth as they had been in the eighth. Nolan Farley worked a lead-off walk as a pinch hitter, then fellow substitute Ian Fernandez nearly tied the game on one swing. If not for the wind at pitcher-friendly Blair Field, Fernandez's high fly ball to deep left field might have left the yard, but on Sunday, it was just a long out. It was the second "nearly" moment of the day for the Gauchos, as Barrett had cracked a similarly promising flyout to deep right in the seventh inning. Still, Fernandez's out in the ninth was a productive one, as Farley was able to tag up and advance to second. And Barrett got a bit of redemption for his seventh-inning flyout in the ninth, cracking a double to the wall in right center, scoring Farley to put Santa Barbara within a run.

The Gauchos got the tying run to third base with two outs but were unable to find the two-out hit to keep the game going.

BY THE NUMBERS
Liam Barrett's fifth-inning home run was also his first collegiate hit, making him the first Gaucho since Nick Putnam last February to leave the yard with their first collegiate hit.
Jackson Flora had a bounce-back outing on Sunday, coming out of the bullpen for the first time this season and pitching the final six innings. He allowed just one run on three hits and struck out a career-high eight batters.

UP NEXT
Santa Barbara will complete this five-game road trip with a mid-week matchup against Loyola Marymount on Tuesday, April 1 at Page Stadium. The Gauchos have already won a mid-week game at Page this season, dispatching USC, 8-1, there on March 4. First pitch against the Lions is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with live stats and a free audio broadcast available at ucsbgauchos.com.

(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics).