Gauchos lose late lead and 6-game win streak ends at Cal Baptist

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara (24-11) and California Baptist (21-16) baseball teams went for a roller coaster ride on the baseball diamond Monday night, playing a game that included four ties and four lead changes and required all nine innings to be decided. With CBU set to join Santa Barbara in The Big West beginning in the 2027 season, if Monday's game is anything to go on, those series will be must-watch baseball. Ultimately, the hosting Lancers walked off with a 7-6 win on this occasion, snapping the Gauchos' six-game winning streak. Santa Barbara got home runs from Cole Kosciusko and Nate Vargas and a stellar cameo on the mound from Raymond Olivas, who will be a junior when these two teams play their first series as conference foes.

HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a pitchers' duel to start on Monday, with both starters facing the minimum in their halves of the first. Frank Camarillo, making his second start of the season for the Gauchos, helped himself out by starting a slick, 1-6-3 double play to erase a lead-off walk in the bottom of the first. He issued back-to-back strikeouts to strand a one-out single and walk in the bottom of the second, but gave up two runs in the third after a lead-off single, walk, error and RBI single, though he did pick up his third strikeout of the day in the process.

Donovann Jackson relieved Camarillo and ended the inning with a groundout and a strikeout. In the top of the fourth, the Gaucho offense provided some relief to their junior right-hander as well, with two big swings. Xavier Esquer led off the inning with a single, and Kosciusko's home run off the scoreboard in right center drove him home to tie the game at two runs apiece. Two batters later, Vargas drove a solo homer to the same part of the park, giving Santa Barbara a 3-2 lead, their first of the night.

Jackson worked a one-two-three fourth with the help of some slick glove work. Nolan Farley made a diving stop and on-time throw to first from his backside at second base for the second out of the inning, and, not to be outdone, Esquer made a diving stop himself at third before firing across the diamond for the third out of the frame. In the top of the fifth, both infielders also had a hand in creating the Gauchos' fourth run of the game as Santa Barbara extended their lead. After Ian Fernandez led off the inning with a double, Farley's one-out single put Gauchos on the corners, and Fernandez was able to score on Esquer's fielder's choice groundout.

Unfortunately, it was not time to get off the ride, and Santa Barbara's two-run lead lasted only two thirds of an inning. A single, then two one-out walks loaded the bases for CBU, and a two-out single tied the game at 4-4. The Lancers went hitless for the next 3 1/3 innings, but they were able to scratch across another run in the sixth after their lead-off man got all the way to second on an error. Two flyouts put CBU back in front, 5-4.

Again, that lead did not last long either. Fernandez hit his second double of the night to lead off the top of the seventh, then took third on a wild pitch and scored on Farley's RBI single. The Gauchos went on to re-take the lead in the top of the eighth. Back-to-back singles from LeTrey McCollum and Kosciusko put two Gauchos on before anyone got out, but two outs later, McCollum had only managed to go 90 feet, from second to third. Rowan Kelly remedied that with a two-out single, scoring McCollum and putting Santa Barbara back on top, 6-5.

Olivas came on to start the eighth and got the only two Lancers he faced out, a strikeout and a flyout. The Gauchos took him out to get a better matchup against the next CBU hitter, though the scheduled batter was lifted for a pinch hitter. All the shuffling around ended with a hit for the Lancers, which turned into the tying run thanks to a two-out double. After another pitching change, Santa Barbara got out of the inning, but they were in for more trouble in the ninth. A one-out double put the winning run on second base, but the Gauchos got the second out of the inning without that runner going anywhere. An intentional walk was issued to get a more favorable matchup, but that matchup ended in an eight-pitch walk. The next man up also faced a full count before hitting a walk-off single down the right field line.

BY THE NUMBERS
Perhaps fittingly for a man whose first collegiate hit was a double, Fernandez recorded his second multi-double game of the season on Monday. He has six total on the year, accounting for nearly half of his 13 hits. In total, more than half of his hits so far (eight) have gone for extra bases.
Like Fernandez, Farley was one of four Gauchos with multiple hits on Monday night. Over the four games that Santa Barbara played in Riverside, Farley went 4-for-12 (.333) with four RBIs and zero strikeouts.
McCollum was another Gaucho with multiple hits on Monday; his two singles extended his on-base streak to 31 games.

UP NEXT
Santa Barbara returns home for a marquee conference series this weekend, hosting Cal Poly in the 2025 Blue-Green Rivalry, April 17 through 19. Friday's game will be nationally televised on ESPNU and therefore starts at 6 p.m. First pitch times on Thursday and Sunday are scheduled for 4:35 p.m. and 1:05 p.m. respectively. Following the rivalry series, the Gauchos will have a shot at revenge against the Lancers as they host CBU on Monday, April 21 at 4:35 p.m.

(Article courtesy UCSB Athletics