A week after the UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (9-2) outlasted LMU (5-10) in 11 innings, the Gauchos once again handled business against the Lions in a game so surreal it made last week’s extra-frame thriller look downright pedestrian.
What started as a pitcher’s duel was interrupted by a pelican before becoming a blowout as Santa Barbara punished LMU’s mistakes late on to earn an 11-1 victory in just eight innings.
Josh Jannicelli matched his performance from the week prior with seven more strikeouts in his start, while Rowan Kelly tallied a pair of doubles for the first time in his career. Nick Husovsky and Max Stagg both had multi-RBI games, but it was Colin Beazizo who drove in the winning run after being hit by a pitch.
It was as normal a beginning imaginable, with Jannicelli going one, two, three through the Lions in the top of the first with a pair of strikeouts. There was an error in the bottom of the first but no damage, and so the baseball continued.
Jannicelli got himself into and out of a tough spot in the top of the second, ending the inning with two more strikeouts to leave the bases loaded, but then a double play helped him face the minimum in the top of the third.
Kelly’s first double of the day set up the Gauchos’ first run in the bottom of the third, Husovsky’s RBI groundout bringing him home. And in yet another normal (albeit unfortunate for the Gauchos) baseball inning, an opposite-field home run tied the game in the top of the fourth for LMU.
Then came the pelican. The bird glided too low over Caesar Uyesaka Stadium’s field and momentarily became trapped in the netting behind home plate, delaying the game until it was eventually freed and helped off the field by Gaucho Assistant Coach Dylan Jones. The pelican did fly its way out of the ballpark, but the oddness lingered in the game.
First, the Gauchos harnessed the “rally pelican” magic to re-take the lead, William Vassuer starting a two-out rally with a bunt that tight-roped the line all the way to the third base bag for an infield single.
He then took second on a wild pitch and scored on Stagg’s infield single, a hard-hit ball that bounced far enough out of the shortstop’s glove for Vasseur to get home all the way from second before the Lions could recover and throw to the plate.
After a normal (and scoreless) fifth inning, the Gauchos extended their lead in the sixth. Noah Karliner was hit by a pitch, Vasseur singled and Nate Vargas was walked on four pitches to load the bases before Stagg popped a ball way up into the sky toward shallow right field.
While LMU’s right fielder appeared to be underneath it, the ball fell safely to the grass, allowing Santa Barbara’s fifth run of the game to come home. Kelly then drove in run number six on an RBI fielder’s choice groundout, using his speed down the line to break up what would have otherwise been an inning-ending double play.
The Lions threatened to make it a game again in the top of the seventh, only to be thwarted by Raymond Olivas. After inheriting a pair of runners and no outs, a single was not the ideal start for the sophomore righty, but Stagg’s defense in left field kept LMU from scoring.
Still, Olivas had to escape the bases-loaded, nobody-out jam. He started with a strikeout, then got some help from Cade Goldstein behind him, the second baseman making a nifty pick and turn to start an inning-ending double play.
Goldstein helped his pitcher out again in the eighth, ranging out into right field and making a Superman-style diving catch to prevent a pop-up from finding the grass of no man’s land.
Olivas finished off the eighth with two more strikeouts, which would turn out to be enough to earn him an unorthodox save.
Prior to Tuesday night’s game, LMU had played four games in North Carolina over the weekend, then a fifth on Monday afternoon back in Los Angeles. By the seventh inning, Santa Barbara had worked their way deep into the Lions’ bullpen, and they were showing signs of potential fatigue.
A throwing error and a passed ball got Jonathan Mendez aboard and over to second base after Husovsky’s lead-off single, and Karliner was walked on a full count to load the bases.
Husovsky then came home to score on a wild pitch, only for another walk to reload the bases. Vasseur’s lineout to centerfield therefore became a sacrifice fly, as Mendez came home to make it 6-1.
Things only got wilder as the Gauchos ended the game in the eighth. Kelly led off with a double before taking third on another wild pitch and scoring on Husovsky’s double.
Mendez followed that with an RBI single into shallow right but ended up all the way on third base thanks to the Lions trying to throw him out at second only to air mail the ball back into the outfield.
Two walks loaded the bases again, and Nate Vargas reached safely (and drove in a run) on a nubbed ground ball that ended up between the pitcher and third baseman, meaning that when the pitcher looked to throw to third base, there was no one to receive the ball and he had to hold on to it.
The next man up, Beazizo, was hit by the first pitch to force home the 11th run of the night and end the game by the 10-run rule.
Because Olivas had technically finished the game on the mound, entered with a three-run lead or less and pitched at least one inning, he qualified for the save in a 10-run, walk-off victory for his team.
Donovann Jackson earned the win for his two innings of scoreless relief.
Santa Barbara remains at home to open Big West play this weekend, hosting Long Beach State for three games, March 6-8. Tickets are on sale now at ucsbgauchos.com/tickets.