It turns out win number 13 in a row might not have been as lucky as initially thought for the UC Santa Barbara Baseball team (14-3, 4-1 Big West), as hardly anything went the Gauchos’ way in Saturday’s game at UC Davis (8-9, 2-3 Big West).

After some lucky bounces had lent the Gauchos a hand on Friday, a couple of bad breaks kept Santa Barbara from ever taking control of Saturday’s game, and the Aggies won it, 5-4, with a walk-off double in the ninth.

The loss snaps the second-longest winning streak in program history, behind only the 15 the Gauchos won down the stretch in 2024, capped by their 7-5 NCAA Regional win over Fresno State.

Both pitching staffs had to contend with a tight strike zone on Friday night, but the leadoff walk that started the bottom of the first especially hurt the Gauchos, as a double into center field put the Aggies on the board.

Another double down the left field line made it 2-0 before Santa Barbara could get out of the first.
 
Rowan Kelly got one of those runs back in the top of the third with a monster home run to right field, his second of the season, and Nathan Aceves fired two strikeouts as part of a one, two, three shutdown inning in the bottom half.

That good work set up the Gauchos to tie the game in the top of the fourth, with Nick Husovsky getting aboard on a one-out single, advancing to second on Colin Beazizo’s walk, taking third on Noah Karliner’s flyout and coming home on Jonathan Mendez’s clutch RBI single into right.
 
Aceves escaped a tough fourth inning thanks to a huge strikeout with two outs and the bases full, and the Santa Barbara offense continued to roll in the top of the fifth.

Back-to-back singles from Nate Vargas and Kelly kicked off the inning and chased Davis’ starter and the Gauchos got their luckiest break of the night to keep things going, Cole Kosciusko reaching on a ball that never left the infield thanks to Kelly beating the throw to second. Another fielder’s choice gave Husovsky an RBI and Santa Barbara a 3-2 lead.
 
But that edge did not even last an inning as the Gauchos immediately suffered their unluckiest break of the night in the bottom of the fifth. On a bunt, Aceves air-mailed his throw to first, allowing the Aggies’ leadoff hitter to take not just second base, but third as well.

However, broadcast replays revealed that Karliner’s throw had clearly beaten the runner for what should have been an out at third. The only problem: Davis’ inability to provide replay review at Dobbins Stadium meant the play stood as called on the field.
 
There was no escape for Aceves this time, though that run was the only one the Aggies put across in the fifth, keeping the game knotted up at 3-3. After the Gauchos left a leadoff double stranded in the top of the sixth, Davis re-took the lead in the bottom half with another leadoff walk and a pair of singles.

The Aggies would have led by two if not for Husovsky’s heads-up throw home for the final out of the inning on a double steal attempt.
 
Santa Barbara tied things back up in the top of the seventh, but they could have also had more. After Cade Goldstein worked a leadoff walk and Max Stagg’s pinch-hit sacrifice bunt moved him into scoring position, Beazizo drove him home with a single past the Aggies’ shortstop.

Beazizo took second on the throw home and would likely have scored on Mendez’s two-out worm-burner, if not for Davis’ second baseman diving to his left, snaring the ball and throwing to first to end the inning.
 
The Gauchos had two runners on with just one out in the top of the ninth but back-to-back strikeouts left them with nothing to show. A leadoff single and sacrifice bunt put them in a tough spot in the bottom of the ninth, but they nearly escaped.

A K got the second out of the inning, but there was nothing lucky about the Aggies’ walk-off double to the wall in left.

Santa Barbara’s Sunday matinee in Davis is now the rubber match for the final conference series between the two teams, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. from Dobbins Stadium. 

Kellan Montgomery is set to take the mound for the Gauchos, with the Aggies expected to start left-hander Jack Pezzolo. Fans can catch all the action from anywhere live on ESPN+ or by following along with live stats and a free audio-only broadcast at ucsbgauchos.com.