UCSB Baseball came from behind for a 4-2 victory over Cal Poly to clinch the series win on Friday at Baggett Stadium in San Luis Obispo.
The Gauchos (18-10, 7-4 Big West) scored four unanswered runs from the sixth to the eighth innings to hand their Blue-Green rival Mustangs (17-12, 10-4 BW) their first Big West series loss of the season.
Cal Poly starter Corden Pettey kept UCSB off the board for the first six innings of the game, while the Mustangs scored once in both the third and fifth innings on run-scoring hits by Alejandro Garza.
The Gauchos cut the deficit in half in the top of the sixth when Xavier Esquer came in to score on a wild pitch.
After Nathan Aceves handled the first 5 ⅓ innings for UCSB on the mound, Cole Tryba took over and shut down the Cal Poly offense. Tryba allowed just one hit and struck out seven in 3 ⅔ scoreless frames.
The Gaucho offensive attack carried its momentum into the seventh as back-to-back RBI sacrifice flies from Ryan Severns and Rowan Kelly put the visitors in front by a score of 3-2.
Nick Husovsky then came in to score on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Liam Barrett in the eighth to make it 4-2, and Tryba slammed the door to secure the win and the series victory.
UCSB will look to complete the rivalry sweep in the series finale on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Baggett Stadium.