UCSB couldn’t finish the sweep on Senior Day and now finds itself in a dicey situation to win the Big West and earn an automatic NCAA Tournament bid.
The Gauchos lost their series finale with Cal Poly as they left multiple opportunities on the base paths in a 9-5 baseball defeat to the Mustangs at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium on Sunday.
With the loss, the Gauchos fall into a tie for second place in the Big West with Cal State Fullerton. The Gauchos and Titans are both 18-9 in conference play.
UC San Diego, which completed conference play on Sunday, sits at the top of the standings at 21-9.
To claim the title, the Gauchos (35-17 overall) need to win all three of their games at Hawai’i, May 25-27, and need Cal State Fullerton to lose a game at Cal Poly.
UCSB fell behind early on Sunday, with Cal Poly manufacturing two runs in the second inning, following a leadoff error to begin the inning.
The Gauchos responded with a double in the bottom of the third with Zander Darby’s two-run single. With the bases juiced John Newman Jr. was left looking to end the threat.
Three Cal Poly pitchers combined to strike out 18 Gauchos in the game.
“That was not a very good performance by our group today,” said UCSB coach Andrew Checketts.
Senior JD Callahan was pulled after 3.1 innings, giving up five runs, three earned. Reliever Carter Benbrook was brought in with the bases loaded to levy the damage but walked two straight to extend the Mustangs lead.
Sam Whiting was the next out of the pen, allowing two more runs after a Mustang single and a hit batter. He found his groove to end the inning striking out the following two hitters.
After Christian Kirtley added an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, the Mustangs answered right back. Reed Moring allowed one of his inherited runners to score, making it a 7-3 game.
Cal Poly added to its lead with a two-run homer in the eighth.
Arron Parker hit a two-run bomb to left field for UCSB to make it a 9-5 game.
Checketts praised his seniors after the game, adding that they’ve contributed a lot to the program in their time here.“We’ve had some big contributors, guys that have really done a nice job for us,” stated Checketts. “We are hoping we get to continue to play with them for a few more weeks and it doesn’t end up just being one more series.”
