UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (19-10, 6-8 Big West) served bagels Chicago-style on Saturday, as Oak Park, Illinois' Calvin Proskey pitched seven innings of shutout baseball for the second time in as many starts, striking out a career-best 11 hitters. Thanks to RBI doubles from Nate Vargas, Reiss Calvin and LeTrey McCollum, the Gauchos won, 5-0, to even their series with UC Davis (14-14, 4-7 Big West).
HOW IT HAPPENEDWhile Proskey did not quite match Friday starter Tyler Bremner's feat of striking out the side to start the game, the result was the same as he worked around a hit and a walk for a scoreless frame, striking out a pair of Aggies. Proskey picked up two more strikeouts in the top of the second, setting down the side in order, then the Gaucho offense got themselves going in the bottom of the inning.
Vargas worked a one-out walk and scored on Calvin's double into right center with the hit-and-run call on, plating Santa Barbara's first run of the weekend. Calvin scored two pitches later when Rowan Kelly punched a single through the right side of the Davis infield, and Kelly himself got all the way over to third thanks to a passed ball and a wild pitch. However, the freshman was cut down at home after Corey Nunez's hard-hit grounder ended up going right at the Aggie third baseman, and the rally ended with just two runs on the board for Santa Barbara.
Of course, while they did not know it at the time, two would be twice as many runs as the Gauchos needed on Saturday; Proskey worked around a two-out walk for another spotless inning in the third. But scoring runs is good even when your pitcher is dealing, and the Gauchos were back at it in the bottom of the third. McCollum led off with a single up the middle, then Cole Kosciusko singled through the right side of the infield on the very next pitch. McCollum ended up being put out at third on a fielder's choice play, but Kosciusko made sure a Gaucho got within 90 feet of home by stealing the bag. Vargas' two-out double down the left field line got so far into the corner that it scored not only Kosciusko, but also Jonathan Mendez from first, putting Santa Barbara up, 4-0.
While Proskey now had a four-run lead to work with, he faced a test of mental fortitude for the top of the fourth, as during a third-inning pitching change, the UC Davis coaching staff saw a ball was missing the customary Big West logo and cried foul. The ball was confirmed to be exactly the same model as the ones bearing the conference branding and therefore within the regulations, but the process took nearly 20 minutes on top of the already long bottom of the third, with Proskey sitting on the bench the whole time. Not that it seemed to bother the sophomore at all. He won a seven-pitch battle with the lead-off man in the top of the fourth, striking him out when the batter was ruled to have moved his arm into the way of Proskey's full-count pitch in order to be hit by it. The Aggies challenged the call and lost, another delay which had no effect on Proskey's sharpness. He punched out the next batter swinging, then got a groundout to end the inning after the minimum. He struck out the side in the fifth, then worked around a two-out hit batter and single for a scoreless sixth.
A Xavier Esquer infield single and McCollum double to right center, just in front of a sliding Aggie outfielder, amounted to Santa Barbara's fifth run of the game in the bottom of the sixth.
After Davis led off the top of the seventh with an infield single of their own, Proskey came right back with his 11th strikeout of the game, then got some help from his friends to end the frame. A line drive shot past Jonathan Mendez on the right side of the infield for what looked like another hit, but it was smacked so hard that Kelly had enough time in right field to grab it and fire a laser beam to Nunez at second base for an out. Nunez was involved again, making a backhanded pick at shortstop and throwing to first for the final out.
Cole Tryba relieved Proskey and faced some trouble in the top of the eighth, a double, hit batter and walk loading the bases with one out. He was one pitch away from another walk, which would have forced a run home, but buckled down and got a double play ball right at Mendez, who stepped on second then fired to first to end the threat. Tryba was sharper in the ninth, striking out the side while working around an error and infield single to end the game.
BY THE NUMBERSProskey's career-high 11 strikeouts make it two games in a row that the Gauchos' starter has racked up 10 or more punchouts after Bremner did so on Friday night. The last time Santa Barbara starters recorded 10 or more strikeouts in back-to-back games was in their doubleheader against Cal State Bakersfield on May 29, 2021. Rodney Boone struck out 12 in the first game and Cory Lewis 11 in the second.With his second straight shutout outing, Proskey is now riding a 14-inning scoreless streak, the longest active run on the team. The last Gaucho pitcher to go 20 or more consecutive innings without allowing a run was Kyle Nelson, doing so over 23 2/3 innings in 2016.McCollum's on-base streak extended to 25 games when he was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the first.McCollum also stole a base in the first, the 33rd of his career. He is 14 away from cracking into the program's top 10 career base-stealers, with Erik Johnson's 47 steals from 1984-1987 sitting in 10th place currently.
UP NEXTThe Gauchos and Aggies will meet again on Sunday, April 6 in the rubber match of this three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. from Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, and fans can catch all the action from wherever they are by watching live on ESPN+ or by listening to the free audio broadcast on ucsbgauchos.com/BSBRadio. Live play-by-play updates and stats from Sunday's game will also be available at ucsbgauchos.com/BSBLiveStats.
(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics).
Proskey pitches another gem as UCSB blanks Aggies to even up series News Channel 3-12.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Proskey pitches another gem as UCSB blanks Aggies to even up series )
Also on site :
- Horrific scenes as man slashes children with meat cleaver before being shot by police in suburban New York street
- Man suspected of killing parents in Louisiana is arrested in LA
- Australian conservatives withdraw campaign pledge to stop remote work for public employees