UCSB Baseball opened the Austin Regional with an 11-5 loss at the hands of Tarleton State on Friday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
The Gauchos, who stranded 10 runners on base throughout Friday’s loss, will now take on Holy Cross in an elimination game on Saturday at 11 a.m. PST back at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
UCSB head coach Andrew Checketts and the Gaucho coaching staff opted to save ace and projected top MLB Draft pick Jackson Flora for a later game, so Calvin Proskey got the starting nod to open the regional.
Tarleton State jumped on Proskey early, as three of the first four batters reached base to load the bases. Cage McCloud broke the seal with an RBI sacrifice fly for the Texans, but Proskey kept the deficit at 1-0 heading into the bottom of the first.
The Gauchos got that run right back in the bottom half with one swing of the bat, as Rowan Kelly slugged a solo homer over the center-field wall to even the score at 1-1.
Proskey and Tarleton State starter Cort Lowry then settled in as they each tossed scoreless second and third innings to keep the game tied heading into the fourth.
The Texans then regained the lead off of Proskey in the top of the fourth as Sergio Guerra slugged a two-run long ball to left field to give his team a 3-1 advantage. Proskey was then lifted from the game in favor of lefthander Cole Tryba, who limited the damage there.
After the Gauchos went down in order in the fourth, Tarleton State stayed hot in the top of the fifth with two more runs courtesy of a two-run double by McCloud to extend the lead to 5-1.
UCSB answered in the bottom of the fifth by cutting the deficit to 5-2 on an RBI sacrifice fly courtesy of William Vasseur to score Xavier Esquer.
However, Guerra struck once again for the Texans with a solo shot to left field, extending the lead back out to four runs at 6-2.
The back-and-forth continued in the bottom of the sixth, as the Gauchos inched closer when Noah Karliner led off with a single and Jonathan Mendez followed with a two-run blast to make it 6-4.
UCSB got another runner to third later in the frame, but Tarleton State kept the score there heading into the seventh.
The Texans got one of those runs back in the top of the seventh on a run-scoring squeeze bunt by Ike Shirey, but Tryba responded by stranding the bases loaded with a strikeout to maintain the 7-4 score.
The Gauchos had a chance to answer back in the bottom half with runners on first and second with one out, but back-to-back strikeouts by Tarleton State’s Anthony Treto stranded the two runners to keep UCSB off the board.
Tarleton State came back and threatened in the top of the eighth with the bases loaded and two outs. The Texans attempted to pull off a steal of home, but left-hander Chase Hoover, who entered the game for the Gauchos mid-inning, made the heads-up play to step off the rubber and fire home to cut the runner down.
Hoover’s put-out at home was the third and final out of the inning, keeping the game at 7-4 heading into the bottom half.
The UCSB offense continued to come up short in the bottom of the eighth, stranding two baserunners to maintain the three-run deficit with one inning to play.
The Texans then put the game away for good in the top of the ninth, plating four runs on a solo homer from McCloud, a two-run triple by Jake Tatom and a wild pitch to run away with an 11-4 advantage.
Vasseur rounded out the scoring with a solo homer in the bottom half, but it was far too little, too late for the Gauchos.