UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (25-12, 11-9 Big West) was on the big stage Friday night, and the Gauchos put on a show, taking down the Cal Poly (27-10, 15-2) Mustangs, 5-4 in front of a sellout crowd at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium and for a national TV audience, with the game being broadcast on ESPNU. The heart of Santa Barbara's order provided the runs, with hitters three through six in the Gaucho lineup all recording RBIs. On the mound, AJ Krodel provided a show-stopping long relief outing, striking out seven Mustangs in 4 2/3 innings to earn the win.
FROM HEAD COACH ANDREW CHECKETTS"Fantastic effort by AJ (Krodel)," Checketts said. He's fully capable of doing that, he's had some bright moments but we've been waiting for that, so that was a big moment for him; hopefully that's a momentum changer for his season."
"Nice job offensively to get on base, and a couple two-out knocks there to get us the extra cushion."
HOW IT HAPPENEDGaucho starter Calvin Proskey got off to a smooth start with a groundout and strikeout to start the first, but an error quickly put bumps in his road, with the sophomore having to throw 20 extra pitches and giving up an unearned run on an RBI single by Jack Collins before getting out of the inning. But Proskey settled down with a more comfortable second, working around a one-out single and picking up a second strikeout.
To further smooth out Proskey's day, the Santa Barbara offense gave their starter a run in the bottom of the second, which Mendez and Kosciusko led off with back-to-back doubles to tie the game at one. After Proskey worked around a two-out walk in the top of the third, the Gauchos picked up more runs in the bottom half, doing so without the benefit of a hit. Nolan Farley led off with a walk, Xavier Esquer was hit by a pitch, and Kosciusko picked up an RBI after a dropped fly ball in left allowed Farley to score. A two-out walk to Nate Vargas loaded the bases, and another one to Jack Holman forced home Santa Barbara's third run, giving them their first multi-score lead of the weekend at 3-1.
Proskey handled his business in the top of the fourth, stranding another two-out walk, but a double and a home run by Alejandro Garza in the top of the fifth tied the game and, after two more singles, ended the starter's day. Krodel came in in a less-than pleasant spot, with two runners on and just one out. He struck out the first Mustang he faced, but then a wild pitch moved those two runners to second and third, ratcheting the leverage up a notch. Krodel induced a grounder to third, and Esquer made the throw to first in time to end the inning. In his first full inning of work in the top of the sixth, Krodel punched out a pair of hitters then got another groundout to strand a lead-off single.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Gauchos regained their lead with a big, two-out rally. Esquer was hit by a pitch for the second time on the night to get it started, with LeTrey McCollum smacking a single through the right side to put runners on the corners and force a pitching change. Cal Poly brought in the same pitcher who had given up a game-tying triple to Vargas on Thursday, and the Gauchos produced similar results. Kosciusko drove in his second go-ahead run of the night with a single into center field, then Mendez made it 5-3 by punching a line drive between the shortstop and shifted second baseman, both of whom were on the left side of the infield.
Krodel delivered a crucial shut-down inning in the top of the seventh, fanning two more Mustangs, then he went three up, three down again in the top of the eighth, finishing that inning by snagging a hard-hit bouncer right back at him and tossing to first.
The game was Krodel's to finish, and he struck out the first batter he faced in the top of the ninth before a pinch-hit single, stolen base and another single put a blemish on the righty's ledger. Still, with the tying run on first but two outs on the board, head coach Andrew Checketts stuck with Krodel. The sophomore delivered, inducing a pop-up that Holman fielded easily on the infield grass to end the game.
BY THE NUMBERSFriday's win was Krodel's second of the season, and he did it in remarkably similar fashion to his first. Krodel pitched 4 1/3 innings of relief on opening day, striking out eight and allowing just one run to earn the win against Campbell. On Friday, he pitched 4 2/3 innings, striking out seven while allowing just the one run.The Gauchos handed Cal Poly just its second Big West loss of the season on Friday. The Mustangs had won 12 straight road games. Santa Barbara is the first team to beat the Mustangs in a nine-inning conference game this season, as Hawai'i took 10 innings to do it last Friday.It was standing room only at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium for Friday's marquee matchup, with an official attendance of 1,121 making Friday the Gauchos' first sellout of the season. The last time Santa Barbara exceeded Caesar's standard capacity of 1,000 was also against Cal Poly, back on May 25, 2019, with a crowd of 1,417. The Gauchos saw 1,537 fans in attendance at the 2024 regular-season finale, though that game featured additional seating in the outfield in preparation for the NCAA Santa Barbara Regional, where the Gauchos twice set their record attendance of 2,110.There were also eyes from all over the country on the Gauchos on Friday, as the game was broadcast nationally on ESPNU. Santa Barbara has now won five of their last six nationally televised games over the last three seasons, including all four of their regular-season primetime games.Speaking of streaks, McCollum continued his run of getting on base, extending it to 33 games with a walk and a base hit on Friday night. He scored the game-winning run on Mendez's RBI single in the sixth.
UP NEXTThe Gauchos' win sets up a rubber game between them and the Mustangs on Saturday, April 19, with first pitch set for 1:05 p.m. Jackson Flora is set to take the ball for Santa Barbara.
(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics)
Gauchos even up series with 5-4 victory to snap Mustangs 12-game road win streak News Channel 3-12.
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