UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The pitching was sharp for UC Santa Barbara Baseball (9-2) on Sunday, but not sharp enough to out-duel Fresno State's (5-6) arms in the series finale, with the Bulldogs winning 2-1 to deny the No. 20 Gauchos a sweep. Calvin Proskey took the loss despite surrendering just two runs — only one earned — through 5 1/3 innings of work, while Nic Peterson and Raymond Olivas were nearly perfect out of the bullpen, Peterson allowing the only hit and walk between the two relievers.
FROM HEAD COACH ANDREW CHECKETTS"Fresno's got a good team, they did a good job," Checketts said. "We didn't do what we can do offensively the last 17, 18 innings there. Gave up a big lead on Saturday, we bounced back and were able to finish that thing off. There were some bright spots, the pitching today. It took our starter too long to really be aggressive, didn't end up hurting us but would have liked him to come out and be more aggressive early. As a coach, you're always looking at things we need to work on."
HOW IT HAPPENEDThe Santa Barbara defense was just as good, if not better than their pitching in the early frames, helping Proskey work around a handful of leadoff walks. In the top of the first, catcher Ian Fernandez showed off his arm, catching the lead runner trying to take third on a one-out double steal. Proskey paid him back by striking out the next Bulldog up to end the inning.
In the top of the second, the Gauchos went around the horn, third to short to first, for a double play, and they turned two again in the top of the third to erase a one-out single.
Fresno finally got a leadoff walk around to score in the top of the fourth, with a hit batter, wild pitch and sacrifice fly providing 90 feet each. But the Gaucho defense was still making plays. After the run scored, Jonathan Mendez chose to make the harder throw to second on a grounder, erasing the lead runner. Then Fernandez caught his second would-be base stealer of the game to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Santa Barbara offense, which had been having no better luck than Fresno's through the first three innings, responded immediately to tie the game back up. A walk and a single put runners on the corners with no outs, and while the next Gaucho up grounded into a double play, it did still bring the tying run home.
Proskey set the Bulldogs down in order with two strikeouts in the top of the fifth to keep things knotted at one run apiece. The righty found himself in a tough spot in the top of the sixth though, as a single and sacrifice bunt put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Peterson was summoned to put out the fire, but a Gaucho error hindered his efforts, putting Bulldogs on the corners. Peterson responded by winning a 10-pitch battle against Fresno's start third baseman for a strikeout, but a two-out single against the shift scored that go-ahead run.
The Gauchos had the chance to immediately punch back in the bottom of the sixth, getting themselves runners on the corners with two outs, but they were left there. Peterson got the first two outs of the seventh before walking the last batter he faced. Olivas relieved him and got the final out of the frame. Santa Barbara then started off their half of the seventh with a LeTrey McCollum double down the right field line, and they again got the tying run to third base with two outs, finally chasing Fresno's starting pitcher.
However, a flyout to right center ended that threat, which would turn out to strand the final Gaucho baserunner of the game. Olivas was marvelous in both the eighth and ninth, working perfect frames in both innings, but his Bulldog counterpart was just as good.
BY THE NUMBERSOlivas' 2 1/3 inning relief outing on Sunday was his second of the week, having worked 2/3 of an inning for his collegiate debut at Pepperdine on Tuesday. Over the three total frames, he allowed just one hit and one walk, no runs, and struck out two batters.For the Gauchos, Sunday's loss snapped a streak of nine consecutive regular-season weekends going 3-0, a stretch of consecutive sweeps that began in April of 2024.
UP NEXTSanta Barbara hits the road for their next game, traveling down to Los Angeles on Tuesday, March 4 to play USC. The Gauchos and Trojans will play at Page Stadium, on the campus of Loyola Marymount, with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. The game will be streamed live on bigtenplus.com, while live stats and an audio broadcast will be available for free through ucsbgauchos.com.
(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics).
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