UCSB Baseball advanced to the Austin Regional Final with a 9-5 victory over Tarleton State on Sunday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
The Gauchos will have a quick turnaround, as they will clash with regional host Texas on Sunday at 3 p.m. PST. UCSB will have to beat the Longhorns on Sunday and Monday to advance to the Super Regional, while Texas needs just one win.
Tarleton State caps off its season with an overall record of 38-21. The Texans made their first-ever NCAA Division I Regional appearance in their second season since transitioning from Division II.
The UCSB offense wasted no time against Tarleton State on Sunday, as Rowan Kelly and William Vasseur reached on a walk and a single, respectively, to spark a rally in the top of the first.
Jonathan Mendez then chopped a grounder back to Tarleton State starter Brendon Carter, who threw the ball away to allow Kelly and Vasseur to score and take an early 2-0 lead.
The Texans applied pressure in the bottom half as well, loading the bases and forcing Gaucho starter Nathan Aceves to throw 22 pitches. However, the sophomore got out of it with a strikeout to preserve the lead.
UCSB’s bats stayed hot in the second, as Cole Kosciusko and Noah Karliner hammered back-to-back long homers on back-to-back pitches to double the lead to 4-0.
Tarleton State got on the board in the bottom of the third courtesy of a Cage McCloud RBI single to make it 4-1, but Gaucho catcher Nate Vargas cut down a runner trying to steal second to end the rally.
UCSB immediately brought its lead back to four runs when Kelly drove home Kosciusko on an RBI groundout in the top of the fourth.
The 5-1 lead held into the seventh inning as Aceves tossed six solid innings for the Gauchos. However, once he was relieved, Tarleton State’s Slade McCloud cut into the deficit with a two-run triple to make it 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh.
UCSB responded in the top of the eighth with a two-out rally, with the biggest swing coming on Kelly’s three-run blast over the right-center field wall to score Kosciusko and Liam Barrett to expand the lead to 8-3.
Two batters later, Vargas doubled home Vasseur to make it a 9-3 advantage heading into the bottom of the eighth.
The Texans tacked on two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but UCSB’s Cole Tryba put the finishing touches on the win.
Kelly drove in four runs to lead the Gaucho offense, while Kosciusko put together a 4-for-5 performance and scored three times. Vasseur chipped in three hits and also scored twice.